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The purpose of this paper is to investigate creep in an internally pressurized thick-walled, closed ends cylinder made of functionally graded composite, having linear and non-linear distribution of reinforcement, using finite element (FE) analysis.

FE-based Abaqus software is used to investigate creep behavior of a functionally graded cylinder. The cylinder is made of composite containing linear and non-linearly varying distributions of reinforcement along the radius. The creep behavior has been described by Norton's power law. The creep stresses and strains have been estimated in linear and non-linear functionally graded materials (FGM) cylinders and compared with those estimated for a similar composite cylinder but having uniform distribution of reinforcement.

The radial stress in the composite cylinder is observed to decreases over the entire radius upon imposing linear or non-linear reinforcement gradients. However, the tangential stress in the cylinder increases near the inner radius but decreases toward the outer radius, on imposing linear or non-linear reinforcement gradients. The creep strains in the FGM cylinders are significantly lower than those observed in a uniform composite cylinder.

The creep strains in an internally pressurized functionally graded thick composite cylinder could be reduced significantly by employing non-linear distribution of reinforcement along the radial direction.

The purpose of this paper is to develop hybrid aluminum metal matrix composite by stir casting process, reinforced with graphite and hard boron carbide particles to enhance the wear resistance. An attempt is made to optimize the wear (weight loss) and coefficient of friction (COF) by considering three factors, i.e. normal load, track diameter and sliding speed which were varied at three different levels.

The effect of graphite and boron carbide on microhardness was studied by adding them in varying percentages. After determining the best combination of hybrid reinforcements, optimization of wear (weight loss) and COF was carried out at various levels of considered factors. Taguchi design of experiments was used using the software “Minitab 16.1”. ANOVA was used to analyze the effect of various parameters on wear and COF. To validate the results, mathematical modeling was carried out in terms of regression equations and results obtained by regression equations.

The results revealed that the lower weight percentage of graphite (3 per cent) and boron carbide (1 per cent) significantly improved microhardness of developed composites. Results of ANOVA revealed that normal load was the main contributing factor for wear and COF. The results obtained by regression equations and confirmatory tests were within the results obtained by ANOVA.

To the best of the author’s knowledge, very less work has been reported on optimization of wear and COF using hybrid reinforcement particles of graphite and boron carbide.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate steady state creep behavior of a functionally graded rotating disc under varying thermal gradient (TG).

The steady state creep in a rotating FGM disc with linearly varying thickness has been investigated by using von-Mises yield criterion. The disc under investigation is assumed to be made of FGM containing non-linear distribution of silicon carbide particle (SiC_p) in a matrix of pure aluminum along the radial distance. The creep behavior of the FGM composite disc is described by threshold stress-based law. The stresses and strain rates in the FGM disc have been estimated for different kinds of TG.

The results indicate that when the FGM disc is subjected to a radial TG, with temperature increasing with increasing radius, the radial stress in the disc increases over the entire disc but the tangential and effective stresses increase near the inner radius and decrease toward the outer radius. The imposition of such a radial TG in the FGM disc leads to significant reduction in the radial and tangential strain rates. With the increase in magnitude of TG in the FGM disc, the inhomogeneity in creep stresses increases but the inhomogeneity in strain rates decreases significantly, thereby reducing the chances of distortion in the FGM disc.

The creep strain rates in rotating FGM disc could be significantly reduced when the disc is subjected to a radial TG, with temperature increasing with increasing radius.

Board meeting was in full swing as an important announcement had been made by Manish Jain, MD FinMen Advisors Pvt. Ltd. ‘We need to get 5,000 clients by 2023’. Management board members look at each other in wonder as they have only 500 clients in 2018. ‘That's a herculean task’, says a board member, ‘Besides, the clients’ fees are reducing in our business'. Manish interrupts to suggest that it is precisely the reason they want to enhance their client base. But the board members were still not convinced. Their questions revolved around whether they are equipped enough in terms of resources and infrastructure to reach to the number suggested by Manish. There were issues in the processes and systems of the company, there were issues in employees taking onus of leading certain verticals in the company, there were no branding exercise in terms of increasing awareness about the company. On the whole, in order to reach 5,000 clients, a total revamp of processes, systems and training employees needed to be given huge emphasis. But does the company have money for revamping all these issues? ‘I don't care’, says Manish, ‘Any client in any industry looking for credit ratings should be our client’. As Manish moves out of the board room, he says to himself that he was well aware of the facts questioned by the board members. But as a person ready to take up challenge and enjoy the perils of it, Manish was not ready to reconsider any of the points raised by the members. He thought whatever has to be done, has to be done to achieve targets set by him. However, sitting in his office and thinking about the future, Manish was still on the same dilemmic question as any employee in his company: how does he achieve the figure of 5,000 clients by 2023?

The purpose of this paper is to numerically investigate the combined effects of canopy (leaf area index [LAI]) and root properties (root distribution function [Rdf] and root area index [RAI]) on a suction induced in soil-root composite under three different scenarios.

Richards equation coupled with sink term was solved using a commercial finite element package “HYDRUS” to investigate suction induced in soil-root composite.

Scenario 1 unveiled that soil-root composite induces 1 to 20 per cent higher suction than bare soil under the absence of transpiration. From Scenario 2, value of suction at depth of maximum RAI in case of linearly decreasing Rdf was found to be higher than that of other Rdfs. However, depth of suction influence zone (SIZ) for uniform Rdf and non-linear Rdf was found to be 10 and 11 per cent higher than that of linearly decreasing Rdf. Depth of evaporation dominant zone (EDZ) for uniformly decreasing Rdf and non-linear Rdf was found to be 1.08 to 3 times higher than that of linearly decreasing Rdf. From Scenario 3, influence of LAI on depth of SIZ is minimal. Depth of EDZ was found to decrease with the increase in LAI. Based on simple calculation on infinite slope stability, influence of variation in root and shoot properties was found to be significant on its factor of safety.

Numerical constitutive model has limitations that it does not consider aging of plant. This model is only applicable for a particular set of soil conditions. A long-term study is required in this field to further quantify parameters for improving calibration and modeling performance.

Following are the practical implication: consideration of vegetation properties into engineered design of green infrastructure (slopes in this case) and selection of vegetation with appropriate characteristics in design for enhancement of stability of green infrastructure.

Contents of this paper are original, and they have not been submitted to any other journal.

The study aims to investigate the impact of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS)-converged standards (Indian Accounting Standards (INAS)) on the accounting quality of Indian firms. The phased manner approach of implementing INAS provides us a unique setting to investigate the issue in India.

The study used difference-in-difference (DiD) methodology, where the accounting quality is compared between test firms and benchmark firms during the pre-and post-INAS adoption period. Accounting quality is operationalized through four different constructs, namely, earnings smoothing, discretionary accruals, earnings timeliness and value relevance of earnings.

The findings deduced from the empirical results demonstrate that accounting quality has been significantly reduced after the adoption of INAS. In particular, results show that the degree of earnings smoothing, and the magnitude of discretionary accruals have been increased among test firms in the post-adoption year. Besides, findings provide evidence that timely recognition of losses and value relevance of earnings has been reduced for test firms relative to benchmark firms after the adoption of INAS.

The results suggest that the mere adoption of high-quality standards does not ensure higher accounting quality in countries with a weaker enforcement mechanism. Hence, stringent enforcement mechanisms are needed to ensure full compliance with accounting standards. This study serves as a case study for other emerging countries that are in the process of IFRS convergence and make them aware of the unintended consequences of IFRS adoption.

Indian authorities implemented INAS in a phased manner that provides a unique setting to use DiD methodology. DiD helps to control the impact of concurrent economic shocks, while examining the impact of the particular regulatory shock. Besides, this is the first attempt to investigate the impact of INAS on the accounting quality of Indian firms.

The paper aims to advance methodologies to optimize fuzzy logic controller parameters via neural network and use the neuro‐fuzzy scheme to control two cooperating robots.

The paper presents a special neural network architecture that can be converted to fuzzy logic controller. Concepts of model predictive control (MPC) have been used to generate optimal signal to be used to train the neural network via backpropagation. Subsequently, a trained neural network is used to obtain fuzzy logic controller parameters.

The proposed neuro‐fuzzy scheme is able to precisely learn the control relation between input‐output training data generated by the learning algorithm. From the experiments performed on the industrial grade robots at Robotics and Manufacturing Automation (RAMA) Laboratory, it was found that the neuro‐fuzzy controller was able to learn fuzzy logic rules and parameters accurately.

The backpropagation method, used in this research, is extremely dependent on initial choice of parameters, and offers no mechanism to restrict the parameters within specified range during training. Use of alternative learning mechanisms, such as reinforcement learning, needs to be investigated.

The neuro‐fuzzy scheme presented can be used to develop controller for plants for which it is difficult to obtain analytical model or sufficient information about input‐output heuristic relation is not available.

The paper presents the neural network architecture and introduces a learning mechanism to train this architecture online.

This study is to examine the economic consequences of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) converged standards by exploring its phased manner implementation in India.

The study measures the economic outcomes in the form of capital market reactions such as cost of equity capital, cost of debt capital, information asymmetry and market liquidity. Difference-in-difference (DiD) methodology has been used to analyze the data for this study.

Based on a sample of 2,685 Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) listed firms, results show that the Indian capital market reacts negatively to the adoption of IFRS-converged standards. In particular, results show that the cost of equity capital, cost of debt capital and information asymmetry have been increased and market liquidity has been decreased for test firms relative to benchmark firms immediately after IFRS convergence and this negative effect is more pronounced among small firms than large firms. Subsequent tests suggest that test firms have better capital market reactions in the later year of implementation relative to benchmark firms that are implementing IFRS for the first time. It indicates the learning curve effect of IFRS on the economic outcomes as negative impact ameliorates over time.

The study is among earlier attempts to investigate the impact of IFRS on capital market reactions by exploring the phased manner implementation framework. The study is also among the pioneering attempts to examine the learning curve impact of IFRS on capital market reactions.

Unhealthy (vice) on-the-go (OTG) dietary practices result in potentially serious health consequences. However, research on encouraging healthy eating intentions for OTG consumption is scarce. This study aims to fill this gap by investigating the role of message framing and source expertise in encouraging the healthy eating intention for OTG consumption.

Two scenario-based experiments were conducted. Study 1 collected data from 136 Australian OTG consumers to examine the effectiveness of message framing (gain vs loss) in encouraging healthy OTG consumption. Study 2 collected data from 178 Australian OTG consumers to examine the interaction effects of message framing and source credibility on encouraging healthy OTG consumption.

Gain-framed messages were more effective than loss-framed messages in encouraging healthy eating for OTG consumption. This difference would be significant only if the gain-framed messages were from a high expert source rather than from a low expert source.

The study is a cross-sectional survey of Australian OTG consumers. Replicating this study in other countries may generalise the study’s findings.

Practically, this study provides insights to marketers and other relevant stakeholders to design effective advertising messages to encourage healthy eating for OTG consumption.

This is the pioneering study investigating the impact of message framing and source credibility in encouraging healthy eating for OTG consumption.