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This paper seeks to explore the fiber orientation distribution and rheological properties of turbulent fiber suspensions flowing through a contraction.

The Reynolds averaged Navier‐Stokes equation was solved with the Reynolds stress model to get the mean fluid velocity and the turbulent kinetic energy in the turbulent flow of a contraction with rectangular cross‐section. The turbulent velocity fluctuations were represented as a Fourier series with random coefficients. Then the slender‐body theory was used to predict the fiber orientation distribution, orientation tensor, additional shear stress and first normal stress difference of suspensions in the flow.

It is found that the longer fibers tend to align the streamline easily. Increased contraction ratio results in higher fiber alignment in the direction of flow. The fibers are weakly and strongly aligned in the direction of flow in the region near the inlet and the exit, respectively. Fibers are significantly more aligned in the plane of the contraction than in the x‐z plane. Contraction ratio and fiber length were shown to strongly and weakly affect the distributions of additional shear stress and first normal stress difference.

It is the first time that the fiber orientation distribution and rheological properties of turbulent fiber suspensions flowing through a contraction have been computed numerically. The computational approach and results are valuable to the design and operation of contraction used in the industrial processes.

The purpose of this paper is to study the effect of particle shapes (spherical particle and nonspherical fiber) on their orientation distributions in indoor environment.

This paper adopted a particle model to predict the fibrous particle flow and distribution, and analyzed the orientation distributions of nonspherical fiber particles and spherical particles in airflows like indoor places. Fokker-Planck model was employed to solve the orientation behavior of nonspherical fiber particles.

The simulation results discover that the nonspherical airborne fiber particles have very different characteristics and behaviors and their orientation distributions are totally different from the uniform distribution of spherical particles. The investigation of the particle orientation tensor and orientation strength indicates that the airflow field becomes more anisotropic due to the suspended fibers. The airborne fiber particles increase the viscosity of the room airflow due to the fiber induced additional viscosity.

Orientation tensor, strength and additional viscosity in fibrous flow are seldom investigated indoor. This research reveals that the particle shape has to be considered in the analysis of particle transport and distribution in indoor places as most suspended indoor particles are nonspherical.

This research examined the survey responses of 801 financial customers who provided information regarding their usage of, and attitudes towards, financial distribution channels. The study found that there were distinctive segments within the financial market that had significantly different levels of usage of financial distribution channels. Financial customers were asked to indicate their orientation towards convenience, service, technology, computers, change, knowledge about methods of accessing money, and confidence in using electronic banking. Financial customers’ usage of human tellers, automated teller machines, electronic funds transfer at the point of sale, credit cards, cheques, Internet banking and telephone banking was investigated, and this information was used to determine if relationships exist between customer orientations and the usage of financial distribution channels. Further results and implications of the study for financial services are addressed.

This paper aims to investigate the relationship between market orientation and innovative marketing strategies and the effect of innovative marketing strategies on the performance of agro-food manufacturers.

Systematic random sampling was used, and semi-structured interviews were conducted with 380 agro-food manufacturers. Several statistical analyses, including Pearson correlation analysis and logistic regression analysis, were used to analyze the relationship between market orientation and innovative marketing strategies, and the effect of innovative marketing strategies on the performance of agro-food manufacturers.

All dimensions of market orientation – customer orientation, competitor orientation and inter-functional coordination – have significant relationships with innovative marketing strategies (product, price, promotion and distribution), while customer orientation and promotion showed a very strong relationship among other variables measured. Innovative marketing strategies, specifically promotion, had the most effect on the performance of agro-food manufacturers.

The sample for this study was selected among agro-food manufacturers in major locations in Peninsular Malaysia. Hence, the findings may only give an initial overview of the current state of the agro-food manufacturers.

This study highlighted the significance of market orientation and innovative marketing strategies for the betterment of performance in the agro-food manufacturing sector.

As a way of enhancing the mechanical properties of photopolymer‐based parts produced by layered manufacturing (LM) techniques, the use of short glass‐fibre reinforcements has been recently explored in the literature. This paper proposes a novel methodology that utilizes a modified rule‐of‐mixtures model for the prediction of the mechanical properties of such layered composites. The prediction process employs empirical data on (i) the fibre‐matrix interface, (ii) the fibres’ geometrical arrangement within the specimens (i.e. fibre‐orientation distribution), and (iii) the fibre‐length distribution. The effects of the fibre‐orientation and fibre‐length distributions are accounted for in the prediction model by the fibre‐length‐correction and orientation‐efficiency factors. Comparison of extensive experimental results and model‐based predictions of mechanical properties of layered composites demonstrated the effectiveness of the proposed estimation methodology.

The physical distribution concept is a customer‐oriented business philosophy supported by integrated physical distribution activities aimed at generating customer satisfac‐tion as a means of satisfying fundamental organisational goals, of which profit is perhaps the most important. It can therefore be expected that those companies whose chief executives support this business philosophy and who consequently ensure that their organisations are physical distribution oriented, will perform better financially than similar organisations which are not physical distribution oriented.

This study aims to explore how the distributor orientation of manufacturing-centered small and medium-sized enterprises (MCSMEs) influences relationship building outcomes, distributor satisfaction, and channel profitability.

This study examines the moderating role of competitive intensity and coordinative culture in the association between distributor orientation and relationship building outcomes.

Empirical results from 115 MCSMEs reveal a strong positive relationship between distributor orientation and distributor satisfaction. The findings also show a positive relationship between distributor orientation and channel profitability. Furthermore, although competitive intensity strengthens the positive relationship between distributor orientation and the two relationship building outcomes, coordinative intensity weakens the positive relationship between distributor orientation and the two relationship outcomes.

Managerial implications and future research opportunities were discussed.

The research contributes to the literature on the management of small and medium-sized enterprises and offers practical implications for manufacturers and distribution channel managers.

In response to highly volatile and uncertain environments, many firms have implemented flexible strategies and many management researchers have discussed the topic of flexibility. The purpose of this paper is to focus on distribution flexibility, the aspect of flexibility related to a downstream supply chain and to examine the construct of distribution flexibility and how organisations make strategic choices among different distribution flexibility strategies.

This work conducts an exploratory multiple case study which analyses four Chinese manufacturers from different industries (pharmaceutical, solid/liquid separation, electric appliances, and clothing).

The results show that, given different circumstances, firms might choose an appropriate distribution flexibility strategy (one focused on either physical distribution flexibility, demand management flexibility, coordination flexibility, or on distribution flexibility co‐alignment) which fits with their distribution environment in the contingency theory sense of matching. Furthermore, for implementation, they fit a given distribution flexibility strategy to both their distribution networks and their distribution performance outcomes in the sense of gestalts or covariance.

This paper has some limitations common to all case studies, such as the limited generalisability of results (since the sample of firms is not statistically significant) and the potential subjectivity of the analysis.

The paper contributes to the existing literature by empirically investigating the dimensions of distribution flexibility, by considering how an organisation develops a distribution flexibility strategy in order to adapt to a particular environment, and by suggesting that final performance outcomes may arise through a variety of different distribution flexibility strategies.

This paper aims to provide SIF calculation method for engineering application.

In this paper, the stress intensity factors (SIFs) calculation method is applied to the anisotropic Ni-based single crystal film cooling holes (FCHs) structure.

Based on contour integral, the anisotropic SIFs analysis finite element method (FEM) in Ni-based single crystal is proposed. The applicability and mesh independence of the method is assessed by comparing the calculated SIFs using mode of plate with an edge crack. Anisotropic SIFs can be calculated with excellent accuracy using the finite element contour integral approach. Then, the effect of crystal orientation and FCHs interference on the anisotropic SIFs is clarified. The SIFs of FCH edge crack in the [011] orientated Ni-based single crystal increases faster than the other two orientations. And the SIF of horizontal interference FCHs edge crack is also larger than that of the inclined interference one.

The SIFs of the FCH edge crack in the turbine air-cooled blade are innovatively computed using the sub-model method. Both the Mode I and II SIFs of FCHs edge crack in blade increase with crack growing.

The purpose of this study is to develop a homogenization approach that ensures both high accuracy and time-efficient solution for elastic-plastic functionally graded composites.

The paper presents a novel two-stage hybrid homogenization approach that combines advantages of the mean field homogenization and homogenization based on the finite element method (FEM). The groundbreaking nature of the developed approach is associated with division of the hybrid homogenization procedure into two stages, which allows to very efficiently determine the solution for arbitrary volume fraction of the reinforcement. This paper concerns also on modelling of composites with randomly distributed prolate and oblate particles. For this purpose, the hybrid homogenization was implemented in the framework of the discrete orientation averaging procedure involving pseudo-grain discretization method.

Agreement between the results obtained using the proposed approach and the standard FEM-based homogenization is very good (up to the volume fraction of 0.3).

The proposed two-stage homogenization approach allows to obtain the solution for materials with arbitrary volume fraction of the reinforcement very efficiently; therefore, it is highly beneficial for the two-scale modeling of nonlinear functionally graded materials and structures.