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The purpose of this study is to discover what attributes of casino buffet restaurants are the most important for customers’ willingness to pay (WTP).

Choice-based conjoint analysis was used in this study to test seven attributes: food, price/value, real price, service, atmosphere, the number of reviews and user-generated star ratings. Sawtooth Software was used to do the conjoint analysis, and a series of significance t-tests were run to determine the significance of each attribute on WTP with Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS).

Based on a survey of 483 respondents who had visited a buffet at a casino within the last two years, this study found that food is ranked as the most significant attribute of a casino buffet restaurant, followed by real price and service quality.

Theoretically, this work is the first to the authors’ knowledge to apply the antecedents of behavioral intention to willingness-to-pay for niche restaurants. Practically, the results of this study will help casino buffet operators as they re-open after COVID-19. Future studies could collect data in the post-pandemic environment and examine WTP at casino buffets in different geographic locations.

The development of reusable space launchers requires a comprehensive knowledge of transonic flow effects on the launcher structure, such as buffet. Indeed, the mechanical integrity of the launcher can be compromised by shock wave/boundary layer interactions, that induce lateral forces responsible for plunging and pitching moments.

This paper aims to report numerical and experimental investigations on the aerodynamic and aeroelastic behavior of a diamond airfoil, designed for microsatellite-dedicated launchers, with a particular interest for the fluid/structure interaction during buffeting. Experimental investigations based on Schlieren visualizations are conducted in a transonic wind tunnel and are then compared with numerical predictions based on unsteady Reynolds averaged Navier–Stokes and large eddy simulation (LES) approaches. The effect of buffeting on the structure is finally studied by solving the equation of the dynamics.

Buffeting is both experimentally and numerically revealed. Experiments highlight 3D oscillations of the shock wave in the manner of a wind-flapping flag. LES computations identify a lambda-shaped shock wave foot width oscillations, which noticeably impact aerodynamic loads. At last, the experiments highlight the chaotic behavior of the shock wave as it shifts from an oscillatory periodic to an erratic 3D flapping state. Fluid structure computations show that the aerodynamic response of the airfoil tends to damp the structural vibrations and to mitigate the effect of buffeting.

While buffeting has been extensively studied for classical supercritical profiles, this study focuses on diamond airfoils. Moreover, a fluid structure computation has been conducted to point out the effect of buffeting.

This paper aims to present a numerical method based on computational fluid dynamics that allows investigating the buffet envelope of reference equivalent wings at the equivalent cost of several two-dimensional, unsteady, turbulent flow analyses. The method bridges the gap between semi-empirical relations, generally dominant in the early phases of aircraft design, and three-dimensional turbulent flow analyses, characterised by high costs in analysis setups and prohibitive computing times.

Accuracy in the predictions and efficiency in the solution are two key aspects. Accuracy is maintained by solving a specialised form of the Reynolds-averaged Navier–Stokes equations valid for infinite-swept wing flows. Efficiency of the solution is reached by a novel implementation of the flow solver, as well as by combining solutions of different fidelity spatially.

Discovering the buffet envelope of a set of reference equivalent wings is accompanied with an estimate of the uncertainties in the numerical predictions. Just over 2,000 processor hours are needed if it is admissible to deal with an uncertainty of ±1.0° in the angle of attack at which buffet onset/offset occurs. Halving the uncertainty requires significantly more computing resources, close to a factor 200 compared with the larger uncertainty case.

To permit the use of the proposed method as a practical design tool in the conceptual/preliminary aircraft design phases, the method offers the designer with the ability to gauge the sensitivity of buffet on primary design variables, such as wing sweep angle and chord to thickness ratio.

The infinite-swept wing, unsteady Reynolds-averaged Navier–Stokes equations have been successfully applied, for the first time, to identify buffeting conditions. This demonstrates the adequateness of the proposed method in the conceptual/preliminary aircraft design phases.

This paper aims to show results of numerical simulations of transonic flow around a supercritical airfoil at chord Reynolds number Re_c = 3 × 10⁶, with the aim of elucidating the mechanisms responsible for large-scale shock oscillations, namely, transonic buffet.

Unsteady Reynolds-averaged Navier–Stokes simulations and detached-eddy simulations provide a preliminary buffet map, while a high fidelity implicit large-eddy simulation with an upstream laminar boundary layer is used to ascertain the physical feasibility of the various buffet mechanisms. Numerical experiments with unsteady RANS highlight the role of waves travelling on pressure side in the buffet mechanism. Estimates of the propagation velocities of coherent disturbances and of acoustic waves are obtained, to check the validity of popular mechanisms based on acoustic feedback from the trailing edge.

Unsteady RANS numerical experiments demonstrate that the pressure side of the airfoil plays a marginal role in the buffet mechanism. Implicit LES data show that the only plausible self-sustaining mechanism involves waves scattered from the trailing edge and penetrating the sonic region from above the suction side shock. An interesting side result of this study is that buffet appears to be more intense in the case that the boundary layer state upstream of the shock is turbulent, rather than laminar.

The results of the study will be of interest to any researcher involved with transonic buffet.

This paper aims to demonstrate how activity‐based pricing can be applied in a restaurant setting by combining the use of price sensitivity measurement with activity‐based costing.

Data are collected at a Hong Kong buffet restaurant, based on guests' price perceptions and the establishment's detailed cost structure. These data are analyzed by using price sensitivity measurement techniques and activity‐based costing methods, separately, and then combined to create an activity‐based pricing analysis of the restaurant's menu.

The use of activity‐based pricing techniques reveals that, although the guests are relatively price‐insensitive, drastic measures were needed to reduce costs for the restaurant to become profitable. Without the benefit of this study, the restaurant's management would not have been able to see clearly the nature of the challenges that they faced, since a single pricing study, or cost study, would have missed the combined cost and pricing effects that were captured by activity‐based pricing.

Activity‐based pricing is shown to be a powerful technique that can be applied effectively in a restaurant. Utilizing this method allows a restaurant truly to understand both its operating cost structure and the price perceptions of it guests. Since this study involved only a single buffet restaurant, further research should be conducted to confirm that activity‐based pricing can also be applied in other restaurant and hospitality industry settings.

The findings from this study suggest that activity‐based pricing may be a viable way for restaurant managers to gain a better understanding of both their guests' price perceptions and the true cost structure of their restaurants. Use of activity‐based pricing allows restaurant managers to set price levels that cover all operating costs and profits, while still meeting guests' expectations of value.

This study is the first of its kind in the hospitality literature, since no prior research has applied activity‐based pricing in a hospitality research setting. This study represents an important new addition to the existing body of hospitality cost and pricing literature.

The transonic buffet is a complex aerodynamics phenomenon that imposes severe constraints on the design of high-speed vehicles, including for aircraft and space launchers. The origin of buffet is still debated in the literature, and the control of this phenomenon remains difficult. This paper aims to propose an original scenario to explain the origin of buffet, which in turn opens promising perspectives for its alleviation and attenuation.

This work relies on the use of numerical simulations, with the idea to reproduce the buffet phenomenon in a transonic aileron designed for small space launchers. Two numerical approaches are tested: unsteady Reynolds averaged Navier–Stokes (URANS) and large-eddy simulation (LES). The numerical predictions are first validated against available experimental data, before to be analysed in detail to identify the origin of buffet on the studied configuration. A complementary numerical study is then conducted to assess the possibility to delay the onset of buffet.

The buffet control strategy is based on wall cooling. By adequately choosing the wall temperature, this work shows that it is feasible to delay the emergence of buffet. More precisely, this paper highlights the crucial role of the subsonic flow inside the boundary layer, showing the existence of upstream travelling pressure waves that are responsible for the flow coupling between both sides of the airfoil, at the origin of the buffet phenomenon.

This paper proposes a new scenario to explain the origin of buffet, based on the use of a Fanno and Rayleigh flow analogies. This approach is used to design a control solution based on a modification of the wall temperature, showing very promising results.

This study aims to investigate the morphing concepts able to manipulate the dynamics of the downstream unsteadiness in the separated shear layers and, in the wake, be able to modify the upstream shock–boundary layer interaction (SBLI) around an A320 morphing prototype to control these instabilities, with emphasis to the attenuation or even suppression of the transonic buffet. The modification of the aerodynamic performances according to a large parametric study carried out at Reynolds number of 4.5 × 10⁶, Mach number of 0.78 and various angles of attack in the range of (0, 2.4)° according to two morphing concepts (travelling waves and trailing edge vibration) are discussed, and the final benefits in aerodynamic performance increase are evaluated.

This article examines through high fidelity (Hi-Fi) numerical simulation the effects of the trailing edge (TE) actuation and of travelling waves along a specific area of the suction side starting from practically the most downstream position of the shock wave motion according to the buffet and extending up to nearly the TE. The present paper studies through spectral analysis the coherent structures development in the near wake and the comparison of the aerodynamic forces to the non-actuated case. Thus, the physical mechanisms of the morphing leading to the increase of the lift-to-drag ratio and the drag and noise sources reduction are identified.

This study investigates the influence of shear-layer and near-wake vortices on the SBLI around an A320 aerofoil and attenuation of the related instabilities thanks to novel morphing: travelling waves generated along the suction side and trailing-edge vibration. A drag reduction of 14% and a lift-to-drag increase in the order of 8% are obtained. The morphing has shown a lift increase in the range of (1.8, 2.5)% for angle of attack of 1.8° and 2.4°, where a significant lift increase of 7.7% is obtained for the angle of incidence of 0° with a drag reduction of 3.66% yielding an aerodynamic efficiency of 11.8%.

This paper presents results of morphing A320 aerofoil, with a chord of 70cm and subjected to two actuation kinds, original in the state of the art at M = 0.78 and Re = 4.5 million. These Hi-Fi simulations are rather rare; a majority of existing ones concern smaller dimensions. This study showed for the first time a modified buffet mode, displaying periodic high-lift “plateaus” interspersed by shorter lift-decrease intervals. Through trailing-edge vibration, this pattern is modified towards a sinusoidal-like buffet, with a considerable amplitude decrease. Lock-in of buffet frequency to the actuation is obtained, leading to this amplitude reduction and a drastic aerodynamic performance increase.

This research paper aims to examine whether using menu engineering (ME) together with activity‐based costing (ABC) for menu analysis gives new insights about true menu profitability. The traditional ME approach only uses food cost to determine the contribution margin of individual menu items. This combined approach uses both food and traceable operating costs to estimate contribution margins more accurately.

An improved menu engineering model was developed and tested in a buffet restaurant in Hong Kong. Direct observation of restaurant activities allowed most costs to be traced (not simply allocated) to individual menu items.

The results found that only three of 20 dinner menu entrées were profitable. This unique insight would not have been possible using traditional ME methods alone. The results also showed that ABC methods are applicable to a buffet‐style restaurant.

Only a single restaurant and only the dinner menu were examined in this study. Future research should apply the model used herein to other restaurant types located in different geographical areas in an effort in order to validate the approach.

The paper suggests that ME can be improved upon by first assessing variable costs using ABC methods. Thus, the extra effort required to apply ABC in a restaurant appears to be worthwhile.

The paper combines two disparate analytic techniques (ME and ABC) in a new approach that reveals a menu's true profit and loss picture. The paper also makes several modifications to the traditional ME approach.

The purpose of this study is to investigate how hotel guests can be nudged for more active engagement in hospitality plate waste prevention and moderation at buffets, through designing effective persuasive interventions. Plate waste is a main sustainability challenge, and it is considered one of the major drivers of food waste in the hospitality sector, whose operations generate excessive amounts of waste. The hospitality industry, featured by all-you-can-eat buffet-style settings, is somehow encouraging consumers to increase the amount of food ordered or taken and not been eaten.

This study reports a field experiment conducted in a real hotel setting, where persuasive interventions were targeted to consumers at the croissants buffet, when guests were making their selections. The research tests the persuasiveness of functional and experiential appeal messages to nudge hotel guests towards a more active engagement in avoiding plate waste. Each single treatment was carried out for three weeks in varying sequence.

The findings are based on 63 rounds of data collections and show the superiority of experiential appeal messages in positively influencing guests’ behaviour. This implies that appropriate messages can persuade tourists to avoid plate waste in buffet-style settings, especially if these messages are grounded in participatory cues with an emphasis on altruistic values.

This is one of the few studies that empirically tests the effectiveness of different persuasive interventions in a real consumption setting, thus measuring actual behaviours which have been rarely studied. This study further contributes to the identification of concrete communication tools that can help to mitigate plate waste generation.

The purpose of this paper is to discuss a numerical study of the flow over a wing representative of a large civil aircraft at cruise condition. For each Mach number considered, the numerical simulations indicate that critical angle of attack exists where the separated region increases in size and begins to oscillate. This phenomenon, known as transonic shock buffet, is reproduced by the unsteady simulation and much information can be extracted analysing location, amplitude and frequency content of the unsteadiness.

Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes simulations are conducted on a half wing-body configuration, at different Mach numbers and angles of attack. Different turbulence models are considered, and both steady-state results and time-accurate simulations are discussed.

The high number of cases presented in this study allows the creation of a database which, to the authors’ knowledge, has not been documented in literature before. The results indicate that, while high-fidelity approaches can improve the quality of the results, the URANS approach is capable of describing the main features of the buffet phenomenon.

The presence of a turbulence model, despite allowing the description of the main unsteady phenomenon, might be insufficient to fully characterise the unsteadiness present in a transonic flow over a half wing-body configuration. Therefore, researchers are encouraged to verify by means of experimental investigation or high-fidelity approach the results issued from a Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes equations.

The results presented clearly indicate that, despite what proposed in recent research papers, transonic buffet can be described by means of time-accurate Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes equations. Such an approach is popular in the aeronautical industry because of its reduced costs, and could be used for wing design.

In this paper, the authors used a classical approach to tackle the known problem of transonic buffet in three-dimensional configurations. The large number of results presented can be used as a database for future numerical simulations and experiments, and allow to describe the flow-physics of the buffet unsteadiness on a half wing-body configuration.