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Presents a new design methodology and an integrated approach for the design of manufacturing systems. The methodology discusses the steps leading to design of manufacturing systems; the integrated approach suggests ways of integrating the different stages of manufacturing system design using genetic algorithms. The methodology and approach has been used for an industrial case study and the result has shown that the approach is effective.

The purpose of this paper is to develop an effective approach to decide design details using benchmarking to capture the existing practice in sustainable design.

This paper reports a systematic method for sustainable product design. The method uses benchmarks as references searching for design details to achieve sustainable solutions. Quality function deployment is used to guide the search process for competitive products using benchmarking to meet quantitative targets of product and to increase knowledge for sustainable design.

The proposed method can meet both functional and sustainable requirements of product design. 18.55 percent reduction in carbon equivalent emissions is achieved compared to benchmarks in wheelchair design. The research reveals that when weight, material and number of components used in product decrease, environmental footprints and cost of the product improve.

The research improves the existing method of sustainable product design. Both sustainable requirements and functional demands of product are identified from qualitative criteria to quantitative metrics using benchmarking and the life cycle assessment.

The purpose of this paper is to provide a flexible tool to predict the particle temperature distribution for traditional laser applications and for the most recent diode laser processes. In the past few years, surface processing and rapid prototyping applications have frequently implemented the use of powder delivery nozzles and high power fibre‐coupled diode lasers with highly convergent laser beams. Owing to the complexity and variety of the process parameters involved in this technology, mathematical models are necessary to understand and predict the deposition behaviour. Modeling the dynamics of the melting pool and the particle temperature distribution is critical for achieving a good deposition quality.

This study focuses on the development of mathematical models to predict the particle temperature distribution over the melting pool. An analytical and a numerical solution are proposed for two cases of laser intensity distribution: top hat and Gaussian.

The results show that a more vertical position of powder delivery nozzle will lead to a higher and more uniform particle temperature distribution, in particular for the top‐hat intensity distribution case.

Previous work has dealt only with Gaussian laser spatial distributions and collimated laser beams. Therefore, they were limited to a specific class of laser processes. This work provides a flexible tool to predict the particle temperature distribution for traditional laser applications (powder delivery nozzle and Gaussian laser profile) and for the most recent diode laser processes (powder delivery nozzle and top‐hat laser distribution with highly convergent laser beam). In addition, the results demonstrate that the particle temperature does not monotonically increase while increasing the nozzle inclination as in the case of a collimated laser beam, but some particles show a minimum temperature for intermediate values of the nozzle inclination angle.

The authors investigated the impacts of differentiated transformational leadership (TFL), including team-focused TFL and individual-focused TFL, on team creativity through the mediating effect of team conflict, consisting of task conflict and relationship conflict.

The authors designed and conducted a close-to-reality experiment, enrolling 180 students and six professors from a large Chinese university. Student participants worked on a real marketing project and professor participants imitated the behaviors of transformational leaders. Using the computed values of team-focused TFL, individual-focused TFL, team creativity, task conflict and relationship conflict, the authors assessed the relationship among differentiated TFL, team creativity and team conflict.

Team-focused TFL has a significantly positive impact on team creativity through the mediating effect of task conflict, whereas individual-focused TFL has a significantly negative impact on team creativity through the mediating effect of relationship conflict.

From a new perspective of team conflict, the authors revealed the “black box” of the differentiated TFL–team creativity relationship. Moreover, other determinants were well controlled in the experiment, and thus, the authors effectively clarified the intervening mechanism of differentiated TFL on team creativity through the mediating effect of team conflict.

The purpose of this paper was to determine the influence of a number of measured points on results of measurements of turbine blades, which are the parts of aircraft engines. The selection of a number of points is the part of a measurement strategy in the coordinate measuring technique and determines the accuracy of measurements.

Numerical and experimental investigations were conducted. The measurements were simulated using different numbers of measured points. The simulated measurements were performed for the selected dispersion of measured points. The dispersion reflected the inaccuracy of a manufacturing process of the considered product and the uncertainty of measurements of curvilinear surfaces. To verify the accuracy of the numerical studies, experimental research was conducted. The real measurements were conducted using the selected coordinate measuring machine.

The gained results following the simulations can be very useful when selecting the appropriate number of measured points. The chosen number of points may be used during real measurements of turbine blades conducted on coordinate measuring machines. The results of numerical research indicate that there should be used the average radii of leading and trailing edges to increase the accuracy of measurements. The results of real coordinate measurements confirmed the results of simulation studies.

The main novelty of the paper is the presented methodology for determining the influence of measured points on results of measurements. The presented methodology helps the user of a coordinate measuring system select the appropriate measurement strategy of free-form surfaces applied in the aerospace industry.

The purpose of this paper is to employ the theory of reasoned action (TRA) as a theoretical framework to investigate factors affecting individuals' attitudes toward knowledge sharing in construction teams in Hong Kong. Specifically, the factors are analyzed from a cost and benefit perspective grounded in social exchange theory.

An exploratory study using semi‐structured interviews is conducted first to explore context‐specific cost and benefit factors. Based on the exploratory study results and TRA, a research model and hypotheses are developed. A questionnaire survey is then conducted among professionals working in contractors in Hong Kong. The quantitative data are analyzed using structural equation modelling.

The research results indicate that individuals' attitudes toward knowledge sharing are positively affected by knowledge self‐efficacy and knowledge feedback, while negatively affected by losing face. Further, it is revealed that attitude toward knowledge sharing significantly determines intention to share knowledge, which then determines knowledge sharing behavior.

The paper is one of the first to employ existing theories in social psychology to examine knowledge sharing behavior in the construction sector. The research results provide important implications for construction companies to promote knowledge sharing in project teams.

This paper aims to study the nonlinear supporting performance of hydrostatic ram under the impact of cutting force and search for an optimal solution to improve its stiffness.

The Reynolds equation was applied to resolve the carrying capability of a single oil pad numerically, and an iteration method was used to analyze the nonlinear supporting force and stiffness of a pair of oil pads placed face-to-face. The total offset of ram could be obtained after the displacement of aspectant oil pads was solved by the bisection method. From the comparison of the offset values of ram evaluated under different support conditions, the optimal solution was determined.

In this study, an optimized oil supply allocation, concluded as 1.16:0.84, is proposed to improve the performance of hydrostatic ram supporting structure.

The supporting performance of hydrostatic ram could be improved by appropriate allocation of oil supply without extra energy consumption.

The purpose of this study is to investigate the relationships between two types of informal ties and radical innovation in the context of China’s university spin-offs and the moderating roles of knowledge breadth and depth in such relationships.

A systematic review of literature on informal ties, internal knowledge base and radical innovation provides the theoretical foundation of the research framework and hypotheses. Using a sample of 158 China’s university spin-offs, the authors conduct a regression analysis on the theoretical framework and hypotheses.

The results show that business and university ties are positively related to radical innovation. Moreover, the effects of business and university ties on radical innovation are contingent on knowledge breadth and depth in opposite ways. In particular, the positive effect of business ties on radical innovation depends significantly on internal knowledge depth rather than on knowledge breadth, and the positive effect of university ties on radical innovation will be affected by internal knowledge breadth rather than knowledge depth.

Managers of university spin-offs must examine informal ties they already have and identify their nature, content and embedded advantages and promptly adjust their strategy of informal ties to adapt to their firms’ internal knowledge base.

This study highlights the positive role of managers’ personal connections with different external parties in facilitating radical innovation and advances the understanding of informal ties by proposing that the effects of informal ties on radical innovation are contingent on a firm’s internal knowledge base in the context of China’s university spin-offs.