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Book part
Publication date: 23 April 2013

Nick Hopwood

This chapter explores ethnographic fieldwork as embodied, material practice. It takes as its foundation the long-standing acknowledgement of the importance of ethnographers’ bodies

Abstract

This chapter explores ethnographic fieldwork as embodied, material practice. It takes as its foundation the long-standing acknowledgement of the importance of ethnographers’ bodies in their work. Concepts and a range of theoretical sources are interwoven with reflections on my own fieldwork in a child and family health service in Sydney. The conceptual discussion begins with a framing of fieldwork as sociomaterial practice, following Schatzki, which highlights bodily and material dimensions of practice. These ideas are then reworked through a number of theoretical lenses, as metaphors of Möbius ribbons and grotesque bodies are used to reflect on relationships between body, mind, and materiality in ethnographic fieldwork.

Details

40th Anniversary of Studies in Symbolic Interaction
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78190-783-2

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 24 November 2014

Wendelin Küpers

Based on a critique of reductive understandings of physicality, this chapter explores the significance of embodied materiality, the artefactual physical, the role of the living…

Abstract

Based on a critique of reductive understandings of physicality, this chapter explores the significance of embodied materiality, the artefactual physical, the role of the living body and embodiment in relation to ‘intra and inter’ practices of leadership from a phenomenological perspective. Using a phenomenological and cross-disciplinary approach, issues of an embodied physicality in leadership are systematically explored and implications discussed beyond physicalist empiricism and meta-physical idealism. Furthermore, the chosen phenomenological approach reveals problematising limitations of naturalist and constructionist approaches.

Following Merleau-Ponty an extended understanding of physicality as well as the significance of the co-constitutive role of embodiment, inter-corporeality and intra-action in and of leadership practices in organisational life-worlds are identified and discussed. Insights into the role of corporeal materio-socio phenomena and expressions of meaningful practices of leading and following are rendered. The chapter concludes by noting limitations and implications of embodied physicality and physical inter-becoming of ‘bodiment’ for a more integral and sustainable conception of leader-and followership in organisations. Through its specific post-dualistic approach the chapter provides an innovative perspective on the interrelations between living, material, bodily and embodied dimensions of physicality in leadership.

Details

The Physicality of Leadership: Gesture, Entanglement, Taboo, Possibilities
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78441-289-0

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 20 November 2020

Xinzhou Wu and Victor Kuzmichev

The purpose of this paper is to present a method of digital twins of female bodies and the optimization of wetsuit patterns with the help of virtual technologies.

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to present a method of digital twins of female bodies and the optimization of wetsuit patterns with the help of virtual technologies.

Design/methodology/approach

First, the new anthropometrical grouping of female torsos has been developed with 3D body scanning technology. Second, soft tissue deformation under the influence of typical diving postures and hydraulic pressure has been explored. Through real experiments, the relationship between textile material strain and body measurement changing has been applied to establish deformed digital twins of female bodies. Finally, during the evaluation of the virtual wetsuit test on digital twins through material strain and pressure values in CLO 3D, the optimized pattern of the wetsuit has been designed.

Findings

The experimental results show that the digital twins based on real data transformation are feasible and practical, and the process of establishing digital twins with 3D body scanning technology is valid and accurate.

Originality/value

The researches on the wetsuit of structure and body dynamic measurements still have many gaps existing in the real and virtual experiments. Thus the manuscript addresses these issues and provides the deformed digital twin for wetsuit pattern design for the first time. This study can be used for designing and optimizing the wetsuit and further improving the efficiency of manufacture and evaluation.

Details

International Journal of Clothing Science and Technology, vol. 33 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0955-6222

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 8 September 2014

Nick Hopwood

This conceptual paper aims to argue that times, spaces, bodies and things constitute four essential dimensions of workplace learning. It examines how practices relate or hang…

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Abstract

Purpose

This conceptual paper aims to argue that times, spaces, bodies and things constitute four essential dimensions of workplace learning. It examines how practices relate or hang together, taking Gherardi’s texture of practices or connectedness in action as the foundation for making visible essential but often overlooked dimensions of workplace learning.

Design/methodology/approach

This framework is located within and adds to contemporary sociomaterial- or practice-based approaches, in which learning is understood as an emergent requirement and product of ongoing practice that cannot be specified in advance.

Findings

The four dimensions are essential in two senses: they are the constitutive essence of textures of practices: what they are made of and they are non-optional; it is not possible to conceive a texture of practices without all of these dimensions present. Although the conceptual terrains to which they point overlap considerably, they remain useful as analytic points of departure. Each reveals something that is less clear in the others.

Research limitations/implications

This innovative framework responds to calls to better understand how practices hang together, and offers a toolkit that reflects the multifaceted nature of practice. It presents a distinctive basis for making sense of connectedness in action, and thus for understanding learning in work.

Originality/value

The paper offers a novel conceptual framework, expanding the texture of practices through dimensions of times, spaces, bodies and things, rendering visible aspects that might otherwise be ignored.

Details

Journal of Workplace Learning, vol. 26 no. 6/7
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1366-5626

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 30 November 2018

Chuansheng Wang, Ning Cai, Dewei Zhang, Jinxiu Zhang, Tianhao Chang, Shaoming Li, Yuqi Chao and Jiquan Hu

This purpose of this study was to develop a 3D printer based on powder particle. The best degreasing and sintering process of a blank body was investigated to obtain a metal…

Abstract

Purpose

This purpose of this study was to develop a 3D printer based on powder particle. The best degreasing and sintering process of a blank body was investigated to obtain a metal product with high precision and high surface finish. This process will greatly reduce the difficulty and cost of forming a complex metal product with high application value.

Design/methodology/approach

Stainless steel powder and polymer materials were mixed using a rubber mixing machine. The powders were granulated to prepare a mixed material. A powder feed 3D printer was used at low temperature (about 200°C) to print and degrease the body. A series of sintering experiments were performed to study the different sintering temperatures, and the physical and mechanical properties of the sample sintered under various conditions were compared to determine the best degreasing and sintering process.

Findings

The reaction at 1,370°C was the optimal route for the metal billet degreasing. The resulting metal products had fine structure and stable performance compared with the products with traditional powder metallurgy composition.

Originality/value

Most 3D printed metal powder materials rely on imports, which are expensive and increase the manufacturing cost. These drawbacks limit the application and development of metal 3D printing technology to a certain extent. The successful study of this molding method greatly reduces the difficulty and cost of forming complex metal products with high application value. This report will provide valuable guidance for sintering process and forming methods.

Details

Rapid Prototyping Journal, vol. 25 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1355-2546

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 8 July 2014

Nick Hopwood

To explore the methodological implications of sociomaterial theory for qualitative research about practice. The purpose of this paper is to assess the potential and limitations of…

Abstract

Purpose

To explore the methodological implications of sociomaterial theory for qualitative research about practice. The purpose of this paper is to assess the potential and limitations of video stimulus to discussion about practice as embodied and material, and to theorise this in terms of epistemic objects.

Design/methodology/approach

A video based on a residential child and family service in Sydney was used as a stimulus in six focus group discussions with researchers and professionals in child and family health. Three focus groups were held in Sweden, and three in the British Isles, settings where a similar approach to supporting families with young children is established. A sociomaterial perspective, drawing on Schatzki's practice theory and Knorr Cetina's notion of epistemic objects informed the design and methodologically focused analysis.

Findings

The use of video is shown to be successful in facilitating and prompting participants to reflect and comment on practice as embodied and material. However, the analysis also accounts for more problematic nature of this approach, exploring the affective connections and illusion of totality that can be associated with video screenings. An alternative, based on line drawings, is suggested, and the paper concludes by raising further questions about data reduction and stimulus artefacts.

Originality/value

The turn to sociomaterial theory has huge potential, but its methodological implications remain unexplored. This paper contributes original perspectives relating to the use of video in a qualitative study, offering innovative theorisation and discussion of stimulus material as epistemic objects, which offers fresh insights into significant methodological prospects and problems.

Details

Qualitative Research Journal, vol. 14 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1443-9883

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 7 March 2008

Boris Trogrlic and Ante Mihanovic

This paper aims to present a new numerical model for the stability and load‐bearing capacity computation of space reinforced‐concrete (R/C) frame structures. Both material and…

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to present a new numerical model for the stability and load‐bearing capacity computation of space reinforced‐concrete (R/C) frame structures. Both material and geometric nonlinearities are taken into account. The R/C cross‐sections are assumed to undergo limited distortion under torsional action.

Design/methodology/approach

A simple, global discretization using beam‐column finite elements is preferred to a full, global discretization using 3D elements. This is more acceptable from a practical point of view. The composite cross‐section is discretized using 2D elements to apply the fiber decomposition procedure to solve the material and geometrical nonlinear behavior of the cross‐section under biaxial moments and axial forces. A local discretization of each beam element based on the comparative body model (i.e. a prismatic body discretized using brick elements, element by element, during the incremental‐iterative procedure) allows determining the torsional constant of the cross‐section under limited warping. The classical global iterative‐incremental procedure is then used to solve the resulting material and geometric nonlinear problem.

Findings

It has been noticed that, in case of a limited distortion of the cross‐section, the torsional constant of homogeneous (linear elastic) materials is greater than the one obtained from the Saint‐Venant theory. However, due to low‐tensile strength of concrete materials, the torsional constant decreases significantly after an early loading phase, primarily due to the lack of reinforcing flanges.

Research limitations/implications

The current study does not cover the torsion analysis of R/C cross‐section with stirrups. Besides, the bond‐slip effect between concrete and steel reinforcement is not taken into account, nor is the local buckling of the beam flanges and rebar.

Practical implications

This new numerical model has been implemented in a computer program for effectively computing the nonlinear stability and load bearing capacity of space R/C frames.

Originality/value

The authors believe that the comparative body model should bring a new approach to the solution of torsion problems with limited distortion of cross‐sections in material and geometric nonlinear analysis of space R/C frames.

Details

Engineering Computations, vol. 25 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0264-4401

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 12 December 2018

Siddharth Kulkarni, David John Edwards, Craig Chapman, M. Reza Hosseini and De-Graft Owusu-Manu

Road passenger transportation faces a global challenge of reducing environmental pollution and greenhouse gas emissions because of the vehicle weight increases needed to enhance…

Abstract

Purpose

Road passenger transportation faces a global challenge of reducing environmental pollution and greenhouse gas emissions because of the vehicle weight increases needed to enhance passenger safety and comfort. This paper aims to present a preliminary mechanical design evaluation of the Wikispeed Car (with a focus on body bending, body torsion and body crash) to assess light-weighting implications and improve the vehicle’s environmental performance without compromising safety.

Design/methodology/approach

For this research, finite element analysis (FEA) was performed to examine the Wikispeed chassis for light-weighting opportunities in three key aspects of the vehicle’s design, namely, for body bending the rockers (or longitudinal tubes), for body torsion (again on the rockers but also the chassis as a whole) and for crash safety – on the frontal crash structure. A two-phase approach was adopted, namely, in phase one, a 3D CAD geometry was generated and in phase, two FEA was generated. The combination of analysis results was used to develop the virtual model using FEA tools, and the model was updated based on the correlation process.

Findings

The research revealed that changing the specified material Aluminium Alloy 6061-T651 to Magnesium EN-MB10020 allows vehicle mass to be reduced by an estimated 110 kg, thus producing a concomitant 10 per cent improvement in fuel economy. The initial results imply that the current beam design made from magnesium would perform worst during a crash as the force required to buckle the beam is the lowest (between 95.2 kN and 134 kN). Steel has the largest bandwidth of force required for buckling and also requires the largest force for buckling (between 317 kN and 540 kN).

Originality/value

This is the first study of its kind to compare and contrast between material substitution and its impact upon Wikispeed car safety and performance.

Details

Journal of Engineering, Design and Technology, vol. 17 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1726-0531

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 12 November 2020

Beata Segercrantz, Annamari Tuori and Charlotta Niemistö

Drawing on a performative ontology, this article extends the literature on health promotion in organizations by exploring how health promotion is performed in care work. The focus…

Abstract

Purpose

Drawing on a performative ontology, this article extends the literature on health promotion in organizations by exploring how health promotion is performed in care work. The focus of the study is on health promotion in a context of illness and/or decline, which form the core of the studied organizational activities. The paper addresses the following question: how do care workers working in elderly care and mental health care organizations accomplish health promotion in the context of illness and/or decline?

Design/methodology/approach

The article develops a performative approach and analyses material-discursive practices in health promoting care work. The empirical material includes 36 semi-structured interviews with care workers, observations and organizational documents.

Findings

Two central material-discursive health promoting practices in care work are identified: confirming that celebrates service users as residents and the organizations as a home, and balancing at the limits of health promotion. The practices of balancing make the limitations of health promotion discernible and involve reconciling health promotion with that which does not neatly fit into it (illness, unachievable care aims, the institution and certain organizing). In sum, the study shows how health promotion can structure processes in care homes where illness and decline often are particularly palpable.

Originality/value

The paper explores health promotion in a context rarely explored in organization studies. Previous organization studies have to some extent explored health promotion and care work, but typically separately. Further, the few studies that have adopted a performative approach to material-discursive practices in the context of care work have typically primarily focused on IT. We extend previous organization studies literature by producing new insights: (1) from an important organizational context of health promotion and (2) of under-researched entanglements of human and non-human actors in care work providing a performative theory of reconciling organizational tensions.

Details

Qualitative Research in Organizations and Management: An International Journal, vol. 16 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1746-5648

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 December 2023

Zhe Du, Changjie Chen and Xinhou Wang

Stab-resistant body armor (SRBA) is used to protect the body from sharp knives. However, most SRBA materials currently have the disadvantages of large weight and thickness. This…

Abstract

Purpose

Stab-resistant body armor (SRBA) is used to protect the body from sharp knives. However, most SRBA materials currently have the disadvantages of large weight and thickness. This paper aims to prepare lightweight and high-performance SRBA by 3D printing truss structure and resin-filling method.

Design/methodology/approach

The stab resistance truss structure was prepared by the fused deposition modeling method, and the composite structure was formed after filling with resin for dynamic and quasi-static stab tests. The optimized structural plate can meet the standard GA68-2019. Digital image correlation technology was used to analyze the local strain changes during puncture. The puncture failure mode was summarized by the final failure morphologies. The explicit dynamics module in ANSYS Workbench was used to analyze the design of the overlapped structure stab resistance process in this paper.

Findings

The stab resistance performance of the 3D-printed structural plate is affected by the internal filling pattern. The stab resistance performance of 3D-printed structural parts was significantly improved after resin filling. The 50%-diamond-PLA-epoxy, with a thickness of only 5 mm was able to meet the stab resistance standard. Resins are used to increase the strength and hardness of the material but also to increase crack propagation and reduce the toughness of the material. The overlapping semicircular structure was inspired by the exoskeleton structure of the demon iron beetle, which improved the stab resistance between gaps. The truss structure can effectively disperse stress for toughening. The filled resin was reinforced by absorbing impact energy.

Originality/value

The 3D-printed resin-filled truss structure can be used to prepare high-performance stab resistance structural plates, which balance the toughness and strength of the overall structure and ultimately reduce the thickness and weight of the SRBA.

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