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The criteria importance through intercriteria correlation (CRITIC) and range of value (ROV) combined methods were used to determine a single index for all multiple responses.

This paper used cold metal transfer (CMT) and pulse metal-inert gas (MIG) welding processes to study the weld-on-bead geometry of AA2099-T86 alloy. This study used Taguchi's approach to find the optimal setting of the input welding parameters. The welding current, welding speed and contact-tip-to workpiece distance were the input welding parameters for finding the output responses, i.e. weld penetration, dilution and heat input. The L9 orthogonal array of Taguchi's approach was used to find out the optimal setting of the input parameters.

The optimal input welding parameters were determined with combined output responses. The predicted optimum welding input parameters were validated through confirmation tests. Analysis of variance showed that welding speed is the most influential factor in determining the weld bead geometry of the CMT and pulse MIG welding techniques.

The heat input and weld bead geometry are compared in both welding processes. The CMT welding samples show superior defect-free weld beads than pulse MIG welding due to lesser heat input and lesser dilution.

This study explores how titanium oxide (TiO₂) filler influences the specific wear rate (SWR) in flax fiber-reinforced epoxy composites (FFRCs) through a Taguchi approach. It aims to boost abrasive wear resistance by incorporating TiO₂ filler, promoting sustainable and eco-friendly materials.

This study fabricates epoxy/flax composites with TiO₂ particles (0–8 wt%) using hand layup. Composites were tested for wear following American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) G99-05. Statistical analysis used Taguchi design of experiments (DOE), with ANOVA identifying key factors affecting SWR in abrasive sliding conditions.

The study illuminates how integrating TiO2 filler particles into epoxy/flax composites enhances abrasive wear properties. Statistical analysis of SWR highlights abrasive grit size (grit) as the most influential factor, followed by normal load, wt% of TiO₂ and sliding distance. Grit size has the highest effect at 43.78%, and wt% TiO₂ filler contributes 15.61% to SWR according to ANOVA. Notably, the Taguchi predictive model closely aligns with experimental results, validating its reliability.

This paper integrates TiO₂ filler and flax fibers to form a novel hybrid composite with enhanced tribological properties in epoxy composites. The use of Taguchi DOE and ANOVA offers valuable insights for optimizing control variables, particularly in natural fiber-reinforced composites (NFRCs).

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the process of fused filament fabrication (FFF) of a compliant gripper (CG) using thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) material. The paper studies the applicability of different CG designs and the efficiency of some design parameters.

After reviewing a number of different papers, two designs were selected for a number of exploratory experiments. Using design of experiments (DOE) techniques to identify important design parameters. Finally, the efficiency of the parts was investigated.

The research finds that a simpler design sacrifices some effectiveness in exchange for a remarkable decrease in production cost. Decreasing infill percentage of previous designs and 3D printing them, out of TPU, experimenting with different parameters yields functional products. Moreover, the paper identified some key parameters for further optimization attempts of such prototypes.

The cost of conducting FFF experiments for TPU increases dramatically with product size, number of parameters studied and the number of experiments. Therefore, all three of these factors had to be kept at a minimum. Further confirmatory experiments encouraged.

This paper addresses an identified need to investigate applications of FFF and TPU in manufacturing functional efficient flexible mechanisms, grippers specifically. While most research focused on designing for increased performance, some research lacks discussion on design philosophy, as well as manufacturing issues. As the needs for flexible grippers vary from high-performance grippers to lower performance grippers created for specific functions/conditions, some effectiveness can be sacrificed to reduce cost, reduce complexity and improve applicability in different robotic assemblies and environments.

The purpose of the study is to establish a predictive model for sustainable wire electrical discharge machining (WEDM) by using adaptive neuro fuzzy interface system (ANFIS). Machining was done on Titanium grade 2 alloy, which is also nicknamed as workhorse of commercially pure titanium industry. ANFIS, being a state-of-the-art technology, is a highly sophisticated and reliable technique used for the prediction and decision-making.

Keeping in the mind the complex nature of WEDM along with the goal of sustainable manufacturing process, ANFIS was chosen to construct predictive models for the material removal rate (MRR) and power consumption (Pc), which reflect environmental and economic aspects. The machining parameters chosen for the machining process are pulse on-time, wire feed, wire tension, servo voltage, servo feed and peak current.

The ANFIS predicted values were verified experimentally, which gave a root mean squared error (RMSE) of 0.329 for MRR and 0.805 for Pc. The significantly low RMSE verifies the accuracy of the process.

ANFIS has been there for quite a time, but it has not been used yet for its possible application in the field of sustainable WEDM of titanium grade-2 alloy with emphasis on MRR and Pc. The novelty of the work is that a predictive model for sustainable machining of titanium grade-2 alloy has been successfully developed using ANFIS, thereby showing the reliability of this technique for the development of predictive models and decision-making for sustainable manufacturing.

Stakeholder theory understands business in terms of relationships among stakeholders whose interests are mainly joint but may be occasionally conflicting. In the latter case, managers may need to make trade-offs between these interests. The purpose of this paper is to explore the nature of managerial decision-making about these trade-offs.

This paper draws on the ordonomic approach which sees business life to be rife with social dilemmas and locates the role of stakeholders in harnessing or resolving these dilemmas through engagement in rule-finding and rule-setting processes.

The ordonomic approach suggests that stakeholder interests trade-offs ought to be neither ignored nor avoided, but rather embraced and welcomed as an opportunity for bringing to fruition the joint interest of stakeholders in playing a better game of business. Stakeholders are shown to bear responsibility for overcoming the perceived trade-offs through the institutional management of social dilemmas.

For many stakeholder theorists, the nature of managerial decision-making about trade-offs between conflicting stakeholder interests and the nature of trade-offs themselves have been a long-standing point of contention. The paper shows that trade-offs may be useful for the value creation process and explicitly discusses managerial strategies for dealing with them.

This paper aims to propose a single element, dual feed, polarisation diversity antenna. The proposed antenna operates from 2.9 to 10.6 GHz for covering the entire ultra-wideband (UWB) frequency range. The antenna is designed for usage in massive multiple input multiple output (MIMO) and closed packaging applications.

The size of the antenna is 24 × 24 × 1.6 mm³. The radiating element of the antenna is derived from the Sierpinski–Knopp (SK) fractal geometry for miniaturization of the antenna size. The antenna has a single reflecting stub placed between the two orthogonal feeds, to improve isolation.

The proposed antenna system exhibits S₁₁ < −10 dB, S₂₁ < −15 dB and stable radiation characteristics in the entire operating region. It also offers an envelope correlation coefficient < 0.01, a diversity gain > 9.9 dB and a capacity loss < 0.4 bps/Hz. The simulated and measured outputs were compared and results were found to be in similarity.

The proposed UWB-MIMO antenna has significant size reduction through usage of SK fractal geometry for radiating element. The antenna uses a single radiating element with dual feed. The stub is between the antenna elements which provide a compact and miniaturized MIMO solution for high density packaging applications. The UWB-MIMO antenna provides an isolation better than −20 dB in the entire UWB operating band.

A novel method for modelling permanent magnets is investigated based on numerical approximations with rational functions. This study aims to introduce the AAA algorithm and other recently developed, cutting-edge mathematical tools, which provide outstandingly fast and accurate numerical computation of potentials and vector fields.

First, the AAA algorithm is briefly introduced along with its main variants and other advanced mathematical tools involved in the modelling. Then, the analysis of a circular Halbach array with a one-pole pair is carried out by means of the AAA-least squares method, focusing on vector potential and flux density in the bore and validating results by means of classic finite element software. Finally, the investigation is completed by a finite difference analysis.

AAA methods for field analysis prove to be strikingly fast and accurate. Results are in excellent agreement with those provided by the finite element model, and the very good agreement with those from finite differences suggests future improvements. They are also easy programming; the MATLAB code is less than 200 lines. This indicates they can provide an effective tool for rapid analysis.

AAA methods in magnetostatics are novel, but their extension to analogous physical problems seems straightforward. Being a meshless method, it is unlikely that local non-linearities can be considered. An aspect of particular interest, left for future research, is the capability of handling inhomogeneous domains, i.e. solving general interface problems.

The authors use cutting-edge mathematical tools for the modelling of complex physical objects in magnetostatics.

This study aims to examine the impact of Islamic teachings on environmental corporate social responsibility (CSR) practices in Bangladesh, a country where Islamic principles are profoundly influential.

Using a mixed-methods research approach (quantitative study with close-ended questionnaire and qualitative study with semistructure interview), this study aims to explore the role of individual characteristics and organizational contexts in environmental CSR practices. The study uses a robust analytical framework encompassing variance inflation factor, orthogonal loading, Cronbach’s alpha, composite reliability and average variance extracted to assess the reliability and validity of these metrics.

Thematic analysis reveals the motivations, attitudes and challenges experienced by organizational leaders in aligning Islamic ethics with environmental stewardship, whereas the quantitative results provide empirical support for the relationship between various organizational practices (denoted as M#1 to M#8) and environmental CSR.

The findings of this study illuminate the potential benefits of tailoring CSR policies to fit within specific religious and cultural frameworks, offering both theoretical contributions and practical insights.

Selective laser sintering (SLS) is an essential technology in the field of additive manufacturing. However, SLS technology is limited by the traditional point-laser sintering method and has reached the bottleneck of efficiency improvement. This study aims to develop an image-shaped laser sintering (ISLS) system based on a digital micromirror device (DMD) to address this problem. The ISLS system uses an image-shaped laser light source with a size of 16 mm × 25.6 mm instead of the traditional SLS point-laser light source.

The ISLS system achieves large-area image-shaped sintering of polymer powder materials by moving the laser light source continuously in the x-direction and updating the sintering pattern synchronously, as well as by overlapping the splicing of adjacent sintering areas in the y-direction. A low-cost composite powder suitable for the ISLS system was prepared using polyether sulfone (PES), pinewood and carbon black (CB) powders as raw materials. Large-sized samples were fabricated using composite powder, and the microstructure, dimensional accuracy, geometric deviation, density, mechanical properties and feasible feature sizes were evaluated.

The experimental results demonstrate that the ISLS system is feasible and can print large-sized parts with good dimensional accuracy, acceptable geometric deviations, specific small-scale features and certain density and mechanical properties.

This study has achieved the transition from traditional point sintering mode to image-shaped surface sintering mode. It has provided a new approach to enhance the system performance of traditional SLS.

This paper aims to present a set of processes for obtaining the global spraying trajectory of a cold spraying robot on a complex surface.

The complex workpiece surfaces in the project are first divided by triangular meshing. Then, the geodesic curve method is applied for local path planning. Finally, the subsurface trajectory combination optimization problem is modeled as a GTSP problem and solved by the ant colony algorithm, where the evaluation scores and the uniform design method are used to determine the optimal parameter combination of the algorithm. A global optimized spraying trajectory is thus obtained.

The simulation results show that the proposed processes can achieve the shortest global spraying trajectory. Moreover, the cold spraying experiment on the IRB4600 six-joint robot verifies that the spraying trajectory obtained by the processes can ensure a uniform coating thickness.

The proposed processes address the issue of different parameter combinations, leading to different results when using the ant colony algorithm. The two methods for obtaining the optimal parameter combinations can solve this problem quickly and effectively, and guarantee that the processes obtain the optimal global spraying trajectory.