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Article
Publication date: 30 April 2024

Lifeng Wang, Yi Zhang, Ziwang Xiao and Long Liu

Effectively solving the large tonnage cable in the construction process due to the tensioning method of the inclined cable often appears in the overall cable force and the design…

Abstract

Purpose

Effectively solving the large tonnage cable in the construction process due to the tensioning method of the inclined cable often appears in the overall cable force and the design value of the deviation is large, cable internal strand force is not uniform, the main girder stress exceeds the limit of the problem affecting the safety of the structure.

Design/methodology/approach

In this study, the finite element method and theoretical analysis method are utilized to propose a construction control method of tensioning the whole bunch of diagonal cables in two parts according to the deformation coordination relationship between the main girder and the diagonal cables. This methodology was implemented during the actual construction of the PAIRA Bridge in Bangladesh.

Findings

Tests conducted on cable-stayed bridges using this controlled tensioning method demonstrate that the measured cable strength of a single strand exhibits an error of less than 0.15% compared to the design target cable strength. The deviation between the measured and designed cable forces ranges from 0.16% to 0.27%. Furthermore, no tensile stress is observed in both the top plate and bottom plate of the root section of the main girder, indicating a state of full-section compression throughout the entire construction process.

Originality/value

Through the comparison with the test value, it can be proved that the whole bunch of diagonal cable tensioned in two parts of the construction control method proposed in this paper can make the internal strand force more uniform, to meet the precision requirements of the site construction, to protect the safety of the bridge construction process. The method proposed in this paper is highly accurate, easy to calculate, and has a high value of popularization and application.

Details

International Journal of Structural Integrity, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1757-9864

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 23 April 2024

Zhenbao Wang, Zhen Yang, Mengyu Liu, Ziqin Meng, Xuecheng Sun, Huang Yong, Xun Sun and Xiang Lv

Microribbon with meander type based on giant magnetoimpedance (GMI) effect has become a research hot spot due to their higher sensitivity and spatial resolution. The purpose of…

Abstract

Purpose

Microribbon with meander type based on giant magnetoimpedance (GMI) effect has become a research hot spot due to their higher sensitivity and spatial resolution. The purpose of this paper is to further optimize the line spacing to improve the performance of meanders for sensor application.

Design/methodology/approach

The model of GMI effect of microribbon with meander type is established. The effect of line spacing (Ls) on GMI behavior in meanders is analyzed systematically.

Findings

Comparison of theory and experiment indicates that decreasing the line spacing increases the negative mutual inductance and a consequent increase in the GMI effect. The maximum value of the GMI ratio increases from 69% to 91.8% (simulation results) and 16.9% to 51.4% (experimental results) when the line spacing is reduced from 400 to 50 µm. The contribution of line spacing versus line width to the GMI ratio of microribbon with meander type was contrasted. This behavior of the GMI ratio is dominated by the overall negative contribution of the mutual inductance.

Originality/value

This paper explores the effect of line spacing on the GMI ratio of meander type by comparing the simulation results with the experimental results. The superior line spacing is found in the identical sensing area. The findings will contribute to the design of high-performance micropatterned ribbon with meander-type GMI sensors and the establishment of a ribbon-based magnetic-sensitive biosensing system.

Details

Sensor Review, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0260-2288

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 21 June 2023

Yongjia Lin, Zhenye Lu, Di Fan and Zhen Zheng

This study aims to investigate the bright and dark sides of environmental, social and governance (ESG) during the COVID-19 pandemic, including both the outbreak and recovery…

1115

Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to investigate the bright and dark sides of environmental, social and governance (ESG) during the COVID-19 pandemic, including both the outbreak and recovery periods, for the Chinese hospitality industry.

Design/methodology/approach

Using panel data of 564 firm-quarter observations from 2018 to 2020, the authors adopt fixed-effects regression estimation with standard errors clustered at the firm level. To address potential endogeneity concerns, the authors also use the two-stage least squares estimator with instrumental variables.

Findings

The results suggest that ESG plays different roles in market- and accounting-based performance during the COVID-19 outbreak and recovery periods. Specifically, ESG practices show a bright side as a reputation builder to mitigate the negative pandemic impact on market-based performance, whereas the dark side of ESG practices consumes firm resources to aggravate the negative pandemic impact on accounting-based performance during the coronavirus outbreak. These results also suggest hospitality companies benefit bountifully from ESG practices during the COVID-19 recovery.

Practical implications

ESG plays a vital role for hospitality firms by providing insurance-like protection during and after the COVID-19 outbreak. Additionally, hospitality firms should evaluate their capability to adapt resource-consuming ESG practices.

Originality/value

Existing hospitality COVID-19 studies have investigated the effect of ESG on firm performance within a short period with mixed results. This study extends the literature by showing the different effects of ESG practices on market- and accounting-based performance during the COVID-19 outbreak and recovery periods.

Details

International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, vol. 36 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0959-6119

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 March 2024

Wei-Zhen Wang, Hong-Mei Xiao and Yuan Fang

Nowadays, artificial intelligence (AI) technology has demonstrated extensive applications in the field of art design. Attribute editing is an important means to realize clothing…

Abstract

Purpose

Nowadays, artificial intelligence (AI) technology has demonstrated extensive applications in the field of art design. Attribute editing is an important means to realize clothing style and color design via computer language, which aims to edit and control the garment image based on the specified target attributes while preserving other details from the original image. The current image attribute editing model often generates images containing missing or redundant attributes. To address the problem, this paper aims for a novel design method utilizing the Fashion-attribute generative adversarial network (AttGAN) model was proposed for image attribute editing specifically tailored to women’s blouses.

Design/methodology/approach

The proposed design method primarily focuses on optimizing the feature extraction network and loss function. To enhance the feature extraction capability of the model, an increase in the number of layers in the feature extraction network was implemented, and the structure similarity index measure (SSIM) loss function was employed to ensure the independent attributes of the original image were consistent. The characteristic-preserving virtual try-on network (CP_VTON) dataset was used for train-ing to enable the editing of sleeve length and color specifically for women’s blouse.

Findings

The experimental results demonstrate that the optimization model’s generated outputs have significantly reduced problems related to missing attributes or visual redundancy. Through a comparative analysis of the numerical changes in the SSIM and peak signal-to-noise ratio (PSNR) before and after the model refinement, it was observed that the improved SSIM increased substantially by 27.4%, and the PSNR increased by 2.8%, serving as empirical evidence of the effectiveness of incorporating the SSIM loss function.

Originality/value

The proposed algorithm provides a promising tool for precise image editing of women’s blouses based on the GAN. This introduces a new approach to eliminate semantic expression errors in image editing, thereby contributing to the development of AI in clothing design.

Details

International Journal of Clothing Science and Technology, vol. 36 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0955-6222

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 5 April 2024

Zhen Wang and Yao Song

Drawing on goal orientation theory, this study intends to investigate whether, how and when developmental leadership influences employees’ feedback seeking behavior (FSB) and…

Abstract

Purpose

Drawing on goal orientation theory, this study intends to investigate whether, how and when developmental leadership influences employees’ feedback seeking behavior (FSB) and feedback avoidance behavior (FAB).

Design/methodology/approach

The authors used a two-wave survey of 416 full-time employees in China. The hypotheses were tested with path analyses.

Findings

Developmental leadership exerts a positive influence on employees’ FSB and a negative impact on FAB through learning goal orientation (LGO). Additionally, leaders’ high performance expectations (LHPE) not only strengthen the positive effects of developmental leadership on FSB but also intensify its weakening effects on FAB.

Originality/value

The findings enrich current understanding by associating developmental leadership with employees’ FSB/FAB, offering a new viewpoint on its positive impacts. This study also provides deeper insights into when the benefits of developmental leadership are intensified.

Details

Leadership & Organization Development Journal, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0143-7739

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 12 April 2024

Zhen Li, Jianqing Han, Mingrui Zhao, Yongbo Zhang, Yanzhe Wang, Cong Zhang and Lin Chang

This study aims to design and validate a theoretical model for capacitive imaging (CI) sensors that incorporates the interelectrode shielding and surrounding shielding electrodes…

Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to design and validate a theoretical model for capacitive imaging (CI) sensors that incorporates the interelectrode shielding and surrounding shielding electrodes. Through experimental verification, the effectiveness of the theoretical model in evaluating CI sensors equipped with shielding electrodes has been demonstrated.

Design/methodology/approach

The study begins by incorporating the interelectrode shielding and surrounding shielding electrodes of CI sensors into the theoretical model. A method for deriving the semianalytical model is proposed, using the renormalization group method and physical model. Based on random geometric parameters of CI sensors, capacitance values are calculated using both simulation models and theoretical models. Three different types of CI sensors with varying geometric parameters are designed and manufactured for experimental testing.

Findings

The study’s results indicate that the errors of the semianalytical model for the CI sensor are predominantly below 5%, with all errors falling below 10%. This suggests that the semianalytical model, derived using the renormalization group method, effectively evaluates CI sensors equipped with shielding electrodes. The experimental results demonstrate the efficacy of the theoretical model in accurately predicting the capacitance values of the CI sensors.

Originality/value

The theoretical model of CI sensors is described by incorporating the interelectrode shielding and surrounding shielding electrodes into the model. This comprehensive approach allows for a more accurate evaluation of the detecting capability of CI sensors, as well as optimization of their performance.

Details

Sensor Review, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0260-2288

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 30 April 2024

Fang Liu, Zilong Wang, JiaCheng Zhou, Yuqin Wu and Zhen Wang

The purpose of this study is to investigate the effects of Ce and Sb doping on the microstructure and thermal mechanical properties of Sn-1.0Ag-0.5Cu lead-free solder. The effects…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to investigate the effects of Ce and Sb doping on the microstructure and thermal mechanical properties of Sn-1.0Ag-0.5Cu lead-free solder. The effects of 0.5%Sb and 0.07%Ce doping on microstructure, thermal properties and mechanical properties of Sn-1.0Ag-0.5Cu lead-free solder were investigated.

Design/methodology/approach

According to the mass ratio, the solder alloys were prepared from tin ingot, antimony ingot, silver ingot and copper ingot with purity of 99.99% at 400°C. X-ray diffractometer was adopted for phase analysis of the alloys. Optical microscopy, scanning electron microscopy and energy dispersive spectrometer were used to study the effect of the Sb and Ce doping on the microstructure of the solder. Then, the thermal characteristics of alloys were characterized by a differential scanning calorimeter (DSC). Finally, the ultimate tensile strength (UTS), elongation (EL.%) and yield strength (YS) of solder alloys were measured by tensile testing machine.

Findings

With the addition of Sb and Ce, the ß-Sn and intermetallic compounds of solders were refined and distributed more evenly. With the addition of Sb, the UTS, EL.% and YS of Sn-1.0Ag-0.5Cu increased by 15.3%, 46.8% and 16.5%, respectively. The EL.% of Sn-1.0Ag-0.5Cu increased by 56.5% due to Ce doping. When both Sb and Ce elements are added, the EL.% of Sn-1.0Ag-0.5Cu increased by 93.3%.

Originality/value

The addition of 0.5% Sb and 0.07% Ce can obtain better comprehensive performance, which provides a helpful reference for the development of Sn-Ag-Cu lead-free solder.

Details

Soldering & Surface Mount Technology, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0954-0911

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 15 February 2023

Bing Yang

Motivated by the real-world practice that the boom of the online selling induces a higher product return as well, selecting which online channel mode indicates who takes ownership…

Abstract

Purpose

Motivated by the real-world practice that the boom of the online selling induces a higher product return as well, selecting which online channel mode indicates who takes ownership over the product and thus bears the loss of the product return. This paper aims to seek the optimal online channel modes for the two members in a platform supply chain in the presence of product returns.

Design/methodology/approach

This study aims to develop a platform supply chain that consists of one platform company and one supplier. Along with an offline distribution channel, the supplier can choose two alternative online selling modes (i.e. the reselling and agency modes) to sell its product through the online marketplace. This paper applies Stackelberg game to derive the equilibrium with different business scenarios and selects the optimal online channel modes for two parties, respectively. Moreover, this paper extends to a different supply chain with a reverse channel leadership and a different product return policy for testing the robustness.

Findings

Several interesting and important results are derived in this paper. Firstly, it is found that the relative pricing are largely relied on the costs of two channels. Secondly, the platform supply chain may benefit from a pure channel rather than the dual-channel when this channel enjoys a relatively low cost and/or a sufficiently high consumer preference. Then, the platform and the supplier act contradictorily when selecting their optimal online channel modes. To be specific, the platform motivates to choose the online reselling mode when both the commission rate and the slotting fee are relatively low, whereas the supplier is likely to select the online agency mode under this circumstance. Finally, a win-win situation in regards to the optimal online channel mode for two parties is achievable with numerical experiments.

Practical implications

Based on the analytical studies, the results derived in the authors’ work can provide managerial insights to assist the supplier and the platform company in determining the operational decision and selecting the optimal online channel mode to deal with consumer returns. In addition, appropriate commission rate along with slotting fee will make both parties achieve a win-win situation in determining their optimal online channel mode.

Originality/value

To the authors’ best knowledge, this paper makes the first move to determine the optimal online channel mode in the content of consumer returns and study how it is affected by different product return policies.

Details

Kybernetes, vol. 53 no. 5
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0368-492X

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 5 April 2024

Yiwei Zhang, Daochun Li, Zi Kan, Zhuoer Yao and Jinwu Xiang

This paper aims to propose a novel control scheme and offer a control parameter optimizer to achieve better automatic carrier landing. Carrier landing is a challenging work…

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to propose a novel control scheme and offer a control parameter optimizer to achieve better automatic carrier landing. Carrier landing is a challenging work because of the severe sea conditions, high demand for accuracy and non-linearity and maneuvering coupling of the aircraft. Consequently, the automatic carrier landing system raises the need for a control scheme that combines high robustness, rapidity and accuracy. In addition, to exploit the capability of the proposed control scheme and alleviate the difficulty of manual parameter tuning, a control parameter optimizer is constructed.

Design/methodology/approach

A novel reference model is constructed by considering the desired state and the actual state as constrained generalized relative motion, which works as a virtual terminal spring-damper system. An improved particle swarm optimization algorithm with dynamic boundary adjustment and Pareto set analysis is introduced to optimize the control parameters.

Findings

The control parameter optimizer makes it efficient and effective to obtain well-tuned control parameters. Furthermore, the proposed control scheme with the optimized parameters can achieve safe carrier landings under various severe sea conditions.

Originality/value

The proposed control scheme shows stronger robustness, accuracy and rapidity than sliding-mode control and Proportion-integration-differentiation (PID). Also, the small number and efficiency of control parameters make this paper realize the first simultaneous optimization of all control parameters in the field of flight control.

Details

Aircraft Engineering and Aerospace Technology, vol. 96 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1748-8842

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 19 December 2022

Xiaojie Xu and Yun Zhang

Understandings of house prices and their interrelationships have undoubtedly drawn a great amount of attention from various market participants. This study aims to investigate the…

Abstract

Purpose

Understandings of house prices and their interrelationships have undoubtedly drawn a great amount of attention from various market participants. This study aims to investigate the monthly newly-built residential house price indices of seventy Chinese cities during a 10-year period spanning January 2011–December 2020 for understandings of issues related to their interdependence and synchronizations.

Design/methodology/approach

Analysis here is facilitated through network analysis together with topological and hierarchical characterizations of price comovements.

Findings

This study determines eight sectoral groups of cities whose house price indices are directly connected and the price synchronization within each group is higher than that at the national level, although each shows rather idiosyncratic patterns. Degrees of house price comovements are generally lower starting from 2018 at the national level and for the eight sectoral groups. Similarly, this study finds that the synchronization intensity associated with the house price index of each city generally switches to a lower level starting from early 2019.

Originality/value

Results here should be of use to policy design and analysis aiming at housing market evaluations and monitoring.

Details

International Journal of Housing Markets and Analysis, vol. 17 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1753-8270

Keywords

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