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Article
Publication date: 7 March 2024

Fei Xu, Zheng Wang, Wei Hu, Caihao Yang, Xiaolong Li, Yaning Zhang, Bingxi Li and Gongnan Xie

The purpose of this paper is to develop a coupled lattice Boltzmann model for the simulation of the freezing process in unsaturated porous media.

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to develop a coupled lattice Boltzmann model for the simulation of the freezing process in unsaturated porous media.

Design/methodology/approach

In the developed model, the porous structure with complexity and disorder was generated by using a stochastic growth method, and then the Shan-Chen multiphase model and enthalpy-based phase change model were coupled by introducing a freezing interface force to describe the variation of phase interface. The pore size of porous media in freezing process was considered as an influential factor to phase transition temperature, and the variation of the interfacial force formed with phase change on the interface was described.

Findings

The larger porosity (0.2 and 0.8) will enlarge the unfrozen area from 42 mm to 70 mm, and the rest space of porous medium was occupied by the solid particles. The larger specific surface area (0.168 and 0.315) has a more fluctuated volume fraction distribution.

Originality/value

The concept of interfacial force was first introduced in the solid–liquid phase transition to describe the freezing process of frozen soil, enabling the formulation of a distribution equation based on enthalpy to depict the changes in the water film. The increased interfacial force serves to diminish ice formation and effectively absorb air during the freezing process. A greater surface area enhances the ability to counteract liquid migration.

Details

International Journal of Numerical Methods for Heat & Fluid Flow, vol. 34 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0961-5539

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 13 March 2024

Byung-Gak Son, Samuel Roscoe and ManMohan S. Sodhi

This study aims to answer the question: What dynamic capabilities do diverse humanitarian organizations have?

Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to answer the question: What dynamic capabilities do diverse humanitarian organizations have?

Design/methodology/approach

We examine this question through the lens of dynamic capabilities with sensing, seizing and reconfiguring capacities. The research team interviewed 15 individuals from 12 humanitarian organizations that had (a) different geographic scopes (global versus local) and (b) different missions (emergency response versus long-term development aid). We also gathered data from secondary sources, including standard operating procedures, company websites, and news databases (Factiva, Reuters and Bloomberg).

Findings

The findings identify the operational and dynamic capabilities of global and local humanitarian organizations while distinguishing between their mission to provide long-term development aid or emergency relief. (1) The global organizations, with their beneficiary responsiveness, reconfigured their sensing and seizing capacities throughout the COVID-19 pandemic by pivoting quickly to local procurement or regional supply chains. The long-term development organizations pivoted to multi-year supplier agreements with fixed pricing to counter price uncertainty and accessed social capital with government bodies. In contrast, emergency response organizations developed end-to-end supply chain visibility to sense changes in supply and demand. (2) Local humanitarian organizations developed the capacity to sense demand and supply changes to reconfigure based on their experiential learning working with the local community. The long-term-development local organizations used un-owned and scalable relief infrastructure to seize opportunities to rebuild affected areas. In contrast, emergency response organizations developed their capacity to seize opportunities to provide aid stemming from their decentralized decision-making, a lack of structured procedures, and the authority for increased expenditure.

Originality/value

We propose a theoretical framework to identify humanitarian organizations' operational and dynamic capabilities, distinguishing between global and local organizations and their emergency response and long-term aid missions.

Details

International Journal of Operations & Production Management, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0144-3577

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 20 March 2024

Reetika Dadheech and Dhiraj Sharma

Purpose: Preserving a country’s culture is crucial for its sustainability. Handicraft is a key draw for tourism destinations; it protects any civilisation’s indigenous knowledge…

Abstract

Purpose: Preserving a country’s culture is crucial for its sustainability. Handicraft is a key draw for tourism destinations; it protects any civilisation’s indigenous knowledge and culture by managing the historical, economic, and ecological ecosystems and perfectly aligns with sustainable development. It has a significant role in creating employment, especially in rural regions and is an essential contributor to the export economy, mainly in developing nations. The study focuses on the skills required and existing gaps in the handicraft industry, its development and prospects by considering women and their role in preserving and embodying the traditional art of making handicrafts.

Approach: A framework has been developed for mapping and analysing the skills required in the handicraft sector using econometric modelling; an enormous number of skills have been crowdsourced from the respondents, and machine learning techniques have been used.

Findings: The findings of the study revealed that employment in this area is dependent not only on general or specialised skills but also on complex matrix skills ranging from punctuality to working in unclean and unsafe environments, along with a set of personal qualities, such as taking initiatives and specific skills, for example polishing and colour coding.

Implications: The skills mapping technique utilised in this study is applicable globally, particularly for women indulged in casual work in developing nations’ handicrafts industry. The sustainable development goals, tourism, and handicrafts are all interconnected. The research includes understanding skills mapping, which provides insights into efficient job matching by incorporating preferences and studying the demand side of casual working by women in the handicraft sector from a skills perspective.

Details

Contemporary Challenges in Social Science Management: Skills Gaps and Shortages in the Labour Market
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-83753-165-3

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 15 September 2022

Sei Jeong and Munisamy Gopinath

This study aims to investigate the role of international price volatility and inventories on domestic market price dynamics in the case of agricultural commodities.

Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to investigate the role of international price volatility and inventories on domestic market price dynamics in the case of agricultural commodities.

Design/methodology/approach

A structural model is employed to uncover relationships among commodity price, price volatility, inventories and convenience yield. Monthly producer price data along with annual data on trade, consumption, inventories and tariffs for 71 countries and 13 commodities covering 2010–2019 are assembled to estimate the model. With a first-stage Least Absolute Shrinkage and Selection Operator (LASSO) estimator to identify the best instrument set, a nonlinear approach is used to estimate the model.

Findings

Results show that international market information plays a critical role in domestic market price dynamics. International price volatility has a stronger effect on domestic prices than that of international inventories.

Research limitations/implications

Current upheaval in commodity markets requires an understanding of how prices move together and inventories affect that movement. A country's internal price is not independent of the effects of global market events.

Originality/value

Although hypotheses exist that global market information (volatility and inventories) helps countries manage domestic commodity prices, there have been limited studies on this relationship, especially with a structured model and cross-country data.

Details

Journal of Agribusiness in Developing and Emerging Economies, vol. 14 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2044-0839

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 14 December 2023

Maren Hinrichs, Loina Prifti and Stefan Schneegass

With production systems become more digitized, data-driven maintenance decisions can improve the performance of production systems. While manufacturers are introducing predictive…

Abstract

Purpose

With production systems become more digitized, data-driven maintenance decisions can improve the performance of production systems. While manufacturers are introducing predictive maintenance and maintenance reporting to increase maintenance operation efficiency, operational data may also be used to improve maintenance management. Research on the value of data-driven decision support to foster increased internal integration of maintenance with related functions is less explored. This paper explores the potential for further development of solutions for cross-functional responsibilities that maintenance shares with production and logistics through data-driven approaches.

Design/methodology/approach

Fifteen maintenance experts were interviewed in semi-structured interviews. The interview questions were derived based on topics identified through a structured literature analysis of 126 papers.

Findings

The main findings show that data-driven decision-making can support maintenance, asset, production and material planning to coordinate and collaborate on cross-functional responsibilities. While solutions for maintenance planning and scheduling have been explored for various operational conditions, collaborative solutions for maintenance, production and logistics offer the potential for further development. Enablers for data-driven collaboration are the internal synchronization and central definition of goals, harmonization of information systems and information visualization for decision-making.

Originality/value

This paper outlines future research directions for data-driven decision-making in maintenance management as well as the practical requirements for implementation.

Details

Journal of Quality in Maintenance Engineering, vol. 30 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1355-2511

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 4 December 2023

Ali M. Saad, Mohammed Dulaimi, Suhaib Arogundade, Sambo Lyson Zulu and Chris Gorse

The recent failures and insolvencies of organisations related to the modern methods of construction (MMC) have gained increased attention and controversy across the UK…

Abstract

Purpose

The recent failures and insolvencies of organisations related to the modern methods of construction (MMC) have gained increased attention and controversy across the UK construction sector. Such failures are linked to their inability to achieve an economy of scale and drive key clients to accept the MMC as an alternative to traditional methods. This paper aims to unravel whether a phenomenon of “innovation negativism” has manifested and is contributing to public clients' indecision towards broader MMC, whether this is only linked to past negative experiences formed after the Second World War or whether additional contributing reasons exist to influence adoption.

Design/methodology/approach

This study focusses on exploring the decision-making of the UK public construction sector; therefore, this paper adopts a qualitative approach, utilising interviews with 14 carefully selected MMC experts, government advisors and public clients. The phenomenological stance adopted herewith enables the authors to make better sense of the perceptions of the interviewees, leading to the conceptualisation of the innovation negativism phenomenon.

Findings

The paper identifies nine themes that may be argued to promote a profound understanding of the MMC negativism influencing public clients' decision-making. The study has found that more than just the previous negative perceptions formulated post Second World War are driving innovation negativism in the UK public sector. Notably, the emerging themes are incomprehension, lacking evidence, communication, relationship history, bad experiences, uncertainty, inadequate experimentation, the business case and localism.

Originality/value

This study is the first construction management research that acts as a fair departure point to conceptualise the reasoning behind innovation negativism in the construction setting. Through mirroring demand's unipolarity for traditional methods, policy and decision-makers can now rely on the conceptualised reasoning to determine practical solutions to overcome clients' indecisions towards MMC.

Details

Built Environment Project and Asset Management, vol. 14 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2044-124X

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 26 September 2022

Amirul Syafiq, Nasrudin Abd. Rahim, Vengadaesvaran Balakrishnan and A.K. Pandey

This paper introduced the simple synthesis process of self-cleaning coating with fog-resistance property using hydrophobic polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) polymer and nano-calcium…

Abstract

Purpose

This paper introduced the simple synthesis process of self-cleaning coating with fog-resistance property using hydrophobic polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) polymer and nano-calcium carbonate (nano-CaCO3) and titanium dioxide (TiO2).

Design/methodology/approach

The synthesis method of PDMS/nano-CaCO3-TiO2 is based on sol-gel process. The crosslinking between PDMS and nanoparticles is driven by the covalent bond at temperature of 50°C. The 3-Aminopropyltriethoxysilane is used as binder for nanoparticles attachment in polymer matrix. Two fabrication methods are used, which are dip- and spray-coating methods.

Findings

The prepared coated glass fulfilled the requirement of standard self-cleaning and fog-resistance performance. For the self-cleaning test BS EN 1096-5:2016, the coated glasses exhibited the dust haze value around 20%–25% at tilt angle of 10°. For the antifog test, the coated glasses showed the fog haze value were below 2% and the gloss value were above 85%. The obtained results completely achieved the standard antifog value ASTM F659-06 protocol.

Research limitations/implications

Findings will provide an infrastructure support for the building glass to enhance building’s energy efficiency, cleaning performance and friendly environment.

Practical implications

This study proposed the simple synthesis method using hydrophobic polymer and nano-CaCO3 and nano-TiO2, which can achieve optimum self-cleaning property at low tilt angle and fog-resistance performance for building glass.

Social implications

The research findings have high potential for building company, cleaning building company and government sector. The proposed project capable to reduces the energy consumption about 20% per annum due to labor cost, time-consuming and safety during manual cleaning.

Originality/value

The novel method to develop self-cleaning coating with fog-resistance using simple synthesis process and fabrication method for building glass application.

Article
Publication date: 1 February 2022

Ayman Ahmed Ezzat Othman and Yomna Abdelghany El-Saeidy

The purpose of this paper is to develop a framework to facilitate early supplier involvement (ESI) as an approach for reducing construction waste (CW) generated during the design…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to develop a framework to facilitate early supplier involvement (ESI) as an approach for reducing construction waste (CW) generated during the design process.

Design/methodology/approach

A research methodology consists of literature review, case studies and survey questionnaire was designed to achieve the abovementioned aim. First, the literature review was used to investigate CW, CW generated during the design process, the design process and ESI. Second, two construction projects were analysed to investigate the role of ESI towards reducing CW generated during the design waste. Third, a survey questionnaire was carried out with a representative sample of architectural design firms (ADFs) in Egypt to examine their perception and application of ESI towards reducing CW generated during the design process. Based on the results of the above, the research developed a framework to facilitate ESI during the design process to reduce CW.

Findings

Through literature review, the research highlighted the causes of CW generated during the design process and identified the benefits and challenges that encounter ESI in ADFs. Results of data analysis showed that “last-minute changes due to client requirements” was ranked the highest challenges of ESI in ADFs in Egypt followed by “lack of design experience”. Moreover, “providing technical information about materials and equipment and their capabilities” was ranked by respondents as the highest contributions of suppliers during the design process which leads to waste reduction followed by “better estimation of materials and costs”. Finally, respondents stated that “resistance of ADFs to include suppliers in the design phase” was ranked the highest challenge of ESI in the design process followed by “no clear guidelines or policies that organise ESI”.

Research limitations/implications

Because of the conceptual nature of the proposed framework, it has to be tested and validated to ensure its capability to overcome the challenges of ESI as an approach for reducing CW generated during the design process.

Practical implications

This research presents a practical solution to the problem of CW generated during the design process through ESI.

Originality/value

The research discussed the causes of CW originated from the design process and the benefits and challenges of ESI in ADFs. It investigated the perception and application of ESI in ADFs in Egypt. The proposed framework which was designed to facilitate the integration of suppliers in the early stages of the project life cycle represents a synthesis that is novel and creative in thought and adds value to the knowledge in a manner that has not previously occurred.

Details

Journal of Engineering, Design and Technology , vol. 22 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1726-0531

Keywords

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