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The purpose of this paper is to provide an effective members-adding method for truss topology optimization in plastic design.

With the help of the distribution of principal stress trajectories, obtained by finite element analysis of the design domain, ineffective zones for force transmission paths can be found, namely, areas whose nodes may have ersatz nodal displacements. Members connected by these nodes are eliminated and the reduced ground structure is used for optimization. Adding members in short to long order and limiting the number of members properly with the most strained ones added, large-scale truss problems in one load case and multiple-load cases are optimized.

Inefficient members (i.e. bars that fulfil the adding criterion but make no contribution to the optimal structure) added to the ground structure in each iterative step are reduced. Fewer members are used for optimization than before; therefore, faster solution convergence and less computation time are achieved with the optimized result unchanged.

The proposed members-adding method in the paper can alleviate the phenomenon of ersatz nodal displacements, enhance computational efficiency and save calculating resources effectively.

The purpose of this paper is to study the corrosion behaviors of X70 steel under direct current (DC) interference at 0-1,200 A/m² in simulated soil solution.

The Tafel polarization curves of X70 steel under DC interference were tested using electrochemical method, the corrosion rate was calculated using weight-loss method and the change in steel surface was analyzed by optical microscopy.

The results showed that E-I polarization curves under 200-1,200 A/m² interference were linear; with an increase in the DC density, the corrosion potential of X70 steel shifted positively, solution pH after the weight-loss tests increased and corrosion rate increased linearly. A mathematical relationship between polarization resistance Rp and current density was established. Corrosion morphology indicated that pitting corrosion and crevice corrosion occurred on the X70 steel under DC interference in simulated soil solution.

All tests were conducted at a relative higher DC density (200-1,200 A/m²). The linear fitting method is proposed to fit data of Tafel polarization curves under DC interference. This study provides guidelines for safe operation of X70 steel pipelines.

This study aims to examine the corporate donations in response to the intensive outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in China in 2020 and proposes that the local spread of COVID-19 is negatively associated with corporate donations due to the non-trivial costs, but meanwhile, strong institutional pressures based on institutional theory are put on firms to donate, which thus creates a dilemma for firms. This study further argues that the dilemma is heterogeneous across different institutional fields.

Using a sample of Chinese listed companies during the intensive outbreak of this pandemic, a two-stage Heckman selection model is conducted to address the potential sample selection bias.

This study reveals a negative relationship between the local spread of COVID-19 and corporate donations, confirms the driving effect of various types of institutional pressure and finds that the intensity of the COVID-19 pandemic strengthens the effect of coercive pressure and mimetic pressure on philanthropic giving but weakens the effect of normative pressure.

This study extends the knowledge on firms’ philanthropic response to natural crises, as the COVID-19 pandemic has not only led to a public health crisis but also to a global economic crisis, and how the effects of institutional pressures are affected by a situational crisis. This work enriches the literature on corporate philanthropy and crisis management and has some implications for both policymakers and business practitioners.

The paper aims to analyse the nature of business communication and its influence on relationships development between Hong Kong Chinese intermediaries sourcing from Mainland Chinese sellers involved in manufacturing for sale to Western buyer firms.

A case study‐driven methodology with purposeful sampling is applied to yield maximum variation in the sampling to elicit underlying tendencies and generative mechanisms that exist within and across the multiple cases of relationships.

The paper finds that Mainland Chinese sellers and Hong Kong Chinese intermediaries tend not to have the close ties that might be expected. Mainland Chinese sellers constrained their use of social information, requiring Hong Kong Chinese intermediaries to use commercial information transfers to evaluate the trustworthiness of their Mainland Chinese partners. An ingroup/outgroup bias exacerbates the modesty bias of the Mainland Chinese and also hinders learning through the transfer of technical information within these Chinese interactions. On the other hand, Western buyers tend not to prefer social information interactions with their Hong Kong Chinese intermediaries, requiring these intermediaries to emphasise commercial information interactions to evaluate the trustworthiness of their Western buyers.

This research uses a restricted sample of case study respondents. Representative sampling across multiple contexts will assist in testing the generality of the findings.

For the West to source increasingly attractive manufactures from Mainland China, Hong Kong intermediaries will remain fundamentally important even though this creates further interactions. The aggregate of these multiple exchange arrangements is less problematic than would be the case if Western business were to deal directly with the Mainland Chinese.

This article sheds light on the nature of business communication interactions in a group of relationships between Hong Kong Chinese intermediaries and Mainland sellers, and buyers from the West. Implications for relationships development among the Chinese and Western actors are identified with propositions framed to guide further investigation.

This paper aims to examine the influence of organizational support, subjective norm and output quality on end-users' usage of enterprise resource planning (ERP) in China.

A conceptual framework is formed based on technology acceptance model literature. Data were collected through a survey on 127 ERP users in small- to middle-sized Chinese firms. Multiple regression analysis was employed.

Subjective norm and output quality determine the perceived usefulness of ERP. Communication has a significant impact on both perceived usefulness and perceived ease of the use of ERP, which further influence ERP usage.

Future research should consider the adoption of different kinds of ERP systems in other countries.

The findings may help organizations effectively use ERP and other kinds of technology systems. In particular, efficient training should be a focus of organizational support in systems implementation.

This study focuses on the impact of organizational training and output quality on end-users' usage of ERP in China.

The objective of this study was to test Ting‐Toomey's (1988a) theory on conflict face‐negotiation. More specifically, the study examined the relationship between face maintenance dimensions and conflict styles in Japan, China, South Korea, Taiwan, and the United States. The results were summarized as follows: (1) Cultural variability of individualism‐collectivism influences two face maintenance dimensions—self‐face concern and other‐face concern; (2) Cultural variability influences conflict styles, with U.S. members using a higher degree of dominating conflict style than their Japanese and Korean cohorts, and the Chinese and Taiwanese members using a higher degree of obliging and avoiding conflict management styles than their U.S. counterparts; (3) Overall, face maintenance dimensions served as better predictors to conflict styles rather than conflict styles to face dimensions; (4) Self‐face maintenance was associated strongly with dominating conflict style, and other‐face maintenance was associated strongly with avoiding, integrating, and compromising styles of conflict management. Directions for future testing of the conflict face‐negotiation theory were proffered.

The objective of this chapter is to provide a first assessment on the evolution of spatial distribution of foreign firms in China.

We examine the overall changes in the location of foreign firms in China over the period 1999–2009. Then, we distinguish two time periods, 1998–2001 and 2002–2009 so as to analyze whether foreign firms’ agglomeration across regions has changed significantly after the China’s entry into the WTO (2001) and the first launch of the Chinese government policies to develop western internal areas.

Our analysis suggests that foreign-invested enterprises (FIEs) with higher foreign capital shares are more geographically clustered in coastal regions than other enterprises with lower foreign capital shares. This group with the highest intensity of foreign involvement in firm capital also experienced the most relevant changes over the decade of our analysis becoming more localized between the core-periphery divide (coastal provinces and the rest of mainland China).

The main limitation refers to poor data availability, data matching problems, and measurement errors in the database used, as highlighted by Nie, Jiang, and Yang (2012).

A general analysis of location patterns and the role of public policies may inform foreign companies in their entry strategy in the Chinese market.

Very few studies have explored location patterns with detailed geographical data and, at the same time, with data disaggregated by foreign ownership shares.

The purpose of this paper is to present the direct kinematic analysis of a heavy‐payload forging manipulator. In the grasping stage, the manipulator is equivalent to a 3‐DOF under‐actuated mechanism. In order to deal with the direct position kinematics of the under‐actuated mechanism, the analysis is performed in two steps.

The paper analyzes the direct position kinematics of the 3‐DOF under‐actuated mechanism as follows: first, the authors add a virtual constraint on the mechanism, convert it to a 2‐DOF fully actuated mechanism and calculate the direct kinematics of the constrained mechanism. Then, the constraint is applied to many different positions and the corresponding direct kinematics of the constrained mechanism are calculated, respectively. Finally, the mechanism with lower gravitational potential energy than any other constrained mechanism is chosen, and its direct position is what is needed for the 3‐DOF underactuated mechanism.

The paper provides a solution for the direct kinematic analysis of a heavy‐payload forging manipulator in the grasping stage. Furthermore, the simulation and experiment results confirm the effectiveness of the solution.

The paper proposes a methodology to deal with the direct position kinematics of the 3‐DOF under‐actuated mechanism in two steps.

WO₃ particles were prepared by the sol-gel method. Tetraethyl silicate (TEOS) was used to obtain a SiO₂-coated WO₃ nanoparticle. Quantum chemical parameters of oleic acid, triethanolamine, glycerol and methyl pentane as dispersants were theoretically calculated. Tribological properties of SiO₂/WO₃ nanocomposite lubricant were carried out on an MRS-10A four-ball friction and wear tester.

The purpose of this study is to investigate the preparation and tribological properties of SiO₂/WO₃ nanocomposite lubricant.

The obtained SiO₂-coated WO₃ nanoparticle (nano-SiO₂/WO₃) with a particle size of about 70 nm. The calculated adsorption energy of triethanolamine on the surface of the steel ball is 554.6 eV, and triethanolamine is selected as the dispersant. The dispersion effect of SiO₂/WO₃ nanocomposite lubricant is good, which shows that triethanolamine oleate plays a good dispersion role in the preparation of lubricant, which is consistent with the calculation results of the adsorption capacity of dispersant. As a good auxiliary lubricant, SiO₂ can improve the tribological properties and wear resistance of WO₃.

Nanocomposite lubricants have been the focus of research in recent years, which could greatly reduce energy consumption. And the SiO₂/WO₃ exhibited excellent lubrication performance as a lubricant additive. The lubrication mechanism of SiO₂/WO₃ nanocomposite lubricant is the synergistic lubrication mechanism of friction film lubrication and antifriction bearing. This study could provide a certain reference for the practical application of nanocomposite lubricants.