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The purpose of this paper is to use the corresponding magnetic sensor and detection method to detect and image the defects of small diameter pipelines. Urban gas pipeline is an energy transportation tool for urban industrial production and social life, which is closely related to urban safety. Preventing the occurrence of urban gas pipeline transportation accidents and carrying out pipeline defect detection are of great significance for the urban economic and social stability. To perform pipeline defect detection, the magnetic flux leakage internal detection method is generally used in the detection of large-diameter long-distance oil and gas pipelines. However, in terms of the internal detection of small-diameter pipelines, due to the heavy weight, large structure of the detection device and small pipe diameter, the detection is more difficult.

In order to solve the above matters, self-made three-dimensional magnetic sensor and three-dimensional magnetic flux leakage imaging direct method are proposed for studying the defect identification. Firstly, for adapting to the diameter range of small-diameter pipelines, and containing the complete information of the defect, a self-made three-dimensional magnetic sensor is made in this paper to improve the accuracy of magnetic flux leakage detection. And on the basis of it, a small diameter pipeline defect detection system is built. Secondly, as detection signal may be affected by background magnetic field interference and the jitter interference, the complete ensemble empirical mode decomposition with adaptive noise method is utilized to screen the detected signal. As a result, the useful signal is reconstructed and the interference signal is removed. Finally, the defect contour inversion imaging of detection is realized based on the direct method of three-dimensional magnetic flux leakage imaging, which includes three-dimensional magnetic flux leakage detection data and data segmentation recognition.

The three-dimensional magnetic flux leakage imaging experimental results shown that, compared to the actual defects, the typical defects, irregular defects and crack groove defects can be analyzed by the magnetic flux leakage defect contour imaging method in qualitative and quantitative way respectively, which provides a new idea for the research of defect recognition.

A three-dimensional magnetic sensor is made to adapt the diameter range of small diameter pipeline, and based on it, a small-diameter pipeline defect detection system is built to collect and display the magnetic flux leakage signal.

Prefabricated buildings (PBs) have proven to effectively mitigate carbon emissions in the construction industry. Existing studies have analyzed the environmental performance of PBs considering the shift in construction methods, ignoring the emissions abatement effects of the low-carbon practices adopted by participants in the prefabricated building supply chain (PBSC). Thus, it is challenging to exploit the environmental advantages of PBs. To further reveal the carbon reduction potential of PBs and assist participants in making low-carbon practice strategy decisions, this paper constructs a system dynamics (SD) model to explore the performance of PBSC in low-carbon practices.

This study adopts the SD approach to integrate the complex dynamic relationship between variables and explicitly considers the environmental and economic impacts of PBSC to explore the carbon emission reduction effects of low-carbon practices by enterprises under environmental policies from the supply chain perspective.

Results show that with the advance of prefabrication level, the carbon emissions from production and transportation processes increase, and the total carbon emissions of PBSC show an upward trend. Low-carbon practices of rational transportation route planning and carbon-reduction energy investment can effectively reduce carbon emissions with negative economic impacts on transportation enterprises. The application of sustainable materials in low-carbon practices is both economically and environmentally friendly. In addition, carbon tax does not always promote the implementation of low-carbon practices, and the improvement of enterprises' environmental awareness can further strengthen the effect of low-carbon practices.

This study dynamically assesses the carbon reduction effects of low-carbon practices in PBSC, informing the low-carbon decision-making of participants in building construction projects and guiding the government to formulate environmental policies.

The purpose of this study is to examine how the quality management of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) impacts their supply chain financing performance (SCFP). This study also investigates the mediating roles of organisational dependence between quality management and the SCFP of SMEs, as well as the moderating role of environmental dynamics.

Questionnaires were administered to 248 financial managers responsible for supply chain finance (SCF) in SMEs in China. Data analysis techniques used include necessary condition analysis and multiple regression analysis.

Research findings show that, in SCF, the quality management of SMEs positively predicts their SCFP through the mediation of the organisational dependence of the focal enterprises in the supply chain network. Environmental dynamics are also found to moderate the relationship between quality management and SCFP through the organisational dependence of capital providers.

To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study to explore the relationships between SMEs' quality management and their SCFP. Also, this study provides a new theoretical lens through which to study SCF by introducing signalling theory.

The management issues of this article, and the author is attempting to address these issues, are as follows: What is the optimal decision of each entity in the closed-loop supply chain for the cascading utilization of power batteries under three government measures: no subsidies, subsidies and rewards and punishments? How do different measures affect the process of cascading the utilization of power batteries? Which measures will help incentivize cascading utilization and battery recycling efforts?

The paper uses game analysis methods to study the optimal decisions of various stakeholders in the supply chain under the conditions of subsidies, non-subsidies and reward and punishment policies. The impact of various parameters on the returns of game entities is tested through Matlab numerical simulation.

The analysis discovered that each party in the supply chain will see an increase in earnings if the government boosts trade-in subsidies, which means that the degree of recycling efforts of each entity will also increase; under the condition with subsidies, the recycling efforts and echelon utilization rates of each stakeholder are higher than those under the incentive and punishment measure. In terms of the power battery echelon’s closed-loop supply chain incentive, the subsidy policy exceeds the reward and punishment policy.

The article takes the perspective of differential games and considers the dynamic process of exchanging old for new, providing important value for the practice of using old for new behavior in the closed-loop supply chain of power battery cascading utilization.

Leading error in line laser weld seam tracking significantly affects tracking accuracy. This paper aims to propose an accurate and reliable compensation method without increasing system complexity for weld seam tracking to improve tracking precision.

Based on the line laser seam tracking method, the seam image is simultaneously captured to obtain the angle offset of the seam relative to the sensor direction, which is then combined with the leading distance to calculate the leading error. The two sensing methods use different wavelengths and are captured simultaneously by a color industrial camera. The images of the two different wavelengths can be separated by extracting the RGB components, and the compensated tracking results are obtained after image processing.

The results of static positioning experiment indicate that the average absolute error in weld seam positioning is reduced to 0.099 mm after compensation. The real-time tracking experiments demonstrate that the proposed method preserves tracking accuracy even with changes in the sensor’s angle of deviation during welding, with the average absolute error being 0.248 mm. This method effectively enhances the precision of line laser weld seam tracking when the sensor exhibits a deviation relative to the welding direction.

By using the dual-sensing and dual-wavelength method for leading error compensation, the method effectively addresses the leading error issue while maintaining the advantages of the line laser seam tracking method.

This paper aims to examine the role of local/provincial government in influencing corporate social and environmental reporting (CSER) in China, and more specifically, how the underlying economic and political factors associated with local government have influenced the quality of CSER.

The authors used 234 environmentally sensitive companies listed on the Shanghai and Shenzhen Stock Exchanges during 2013 and 2015 as the research sample to test the relationship between CSER and local government’s political connection and economic prioritisation and the potential mediating effect of local economic prioritisation.

The analysis provides evidence that local/provincial government’s political geographical connectedness with the central government has directly and positively influenced the level of CSER, while local prioritisation of economic development has a direct but negative effect on CSER in China. In addition, local/provincial prioritisation of economic development has mediated the relationship between local–central political geographical connectedness and CSER.

While local/provincial governments are heavily influenced by the coercive pressure from the central government, they also act in their own political and economic interests in overseeing CSER at the local level. This study raises the question about the effectiveness of the top-down approach to improving CSER in China and suggests that the central government may need to focus more on coordinating and harmonising different local/provincial governments’ interests to enable achieving a common sustainability goal.

The authors provide evidence revealing how the economic and political contexts of local government have played a significant role in shaping CSER in China. More specifically, this paper addresses a gap in the literature by highlighting the importance of local government oversight power for CSER development and how such oversight is determined by local prioritisation of economic development and political geographical connectedness of local and central governments.

The reliability of solder joints is closely related to the growth of an intermetallic compound (IMC) layer between the lead-free solder and substrate interface. This paper aims to investigate the growth behavior of the interfacial IMC layer during isothermal aging at 125°C for Sn-3Ag-3Sb-xIn/Cu (x = 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 Wt.%) solder joints with different In contents and commercial Sn-3Ag-0.5Cu/Cu solder joints.

In this paper, Sn-3Ag-3Sb-xIn/Cu (x = 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 Wt.%) and commercial Sn-3Ag-0.5Cu/Cu solder were prepared for bonding Cu substrate. Then these samples were subjected to isothermal aging for 0, 2, 8, 14, 25 and 45 days. Scanning electron microscopy and transmission electron microscopy were used to analyze the soldering interface reaction and the difference in IMC growth behavior during the isothermal aging process.

When the concentration of In in the Sn-3Ag-3Sb-xIn/Cu solder joints exceeded 2 Wt.%, a substantial amount of InSb particles were produced. These particles acted as a diffusion barrier, impeding the growth of the IMC layer at the interface. The growth of the Cu₃Sn layer during the aging process was strongly correlated with the presence of In. The growth rate of the Cu₃Sn layer was significantly reduced when the In concentration exceeded 3 Wt.%.

The addition of In promotes the formation of InSb particles in Sn-3Ag-3Sb-xIn/Cu solder joints. These particles limit the growth of the total IMC layer, while a higher In content also slows the growth of the Cu₃Sn layer. This study is significant for designing alloy compositions for new high-reliability solders.

The purpose of this paper is to clarify the influence of low earth orbit space environment on the wear mechanism of TC4 alloy material and crank rocker mechanism.

In this study, friction experiments were carried out on TC4 alloy friction discs and crank rocker mechanisms, both before and after exposure to atomic oxygen and proton irradiation. Nanoindentation, grazing incidence X-ray diffraction (GIXRD), and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy were employed to systematically characterize alterations in mechanical properties, surface phase, and chemical composition.

The results show that the wear mechanism of TC4 alloy friction disc is mainly adhesive wear in vacuum environment, while the wear mechanism of crank rocker mechanism includes not only adhesive wear but also abrasive wear. Atomic oxygen exposure leads to the formation of more oxides on the surface of TC4 alloy, which form abrasive particles during the friction process. Proton irradiation will lead to a decrease in fatigue performance and an increase in hardness on the surface of TC4 alloy, thus causing fatigue wear on the surface of TC4 alloy, and more furrows appear on the crank rocker mechanism after proton irradiation. In the three environments, the characteristics of abrasive wear of the crank rocker mechanism are more obvious than those of the TC4 alloy friction disc.

These results highlight the importance of understanding the subtle effects of atomic oxygen and proton irradiation on the wear behavior of TC4 alloy and provide some insights for optimizing its performance in space applications.

The peer review history for this article is available at: https://publons.com/publon/10.1108/ILT-02-2024-0051/

Grounded in upper echelon (UE) theory, this study aims to examine the role of managerial competencies (business experience, financial literacy and digital literacy) in sustainable development strategy, with resource management as a mediator.

The empirical data collection is conducted through a survey completed by 297 top management teams of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) operating in Pakistan. Structural equation modelling in Smart PLS is used to substantiate the hypotheses.

The findings reveal that financially and digitally literate managers significantly contribute to the sustainable development strategies of SMEs. However, experienced managers do not focus significantly on sustainable development strategies. Resource management partially mediates the nexus between financial literacy and sustainable development strategy, as well as between digital literacy and sustainable development strategy. In contrast, resource management does not mediate the nexus between business experience and sustainable development strategy.

This study recommends that SMEs should prioritize managers with digital and financial literacy over those with experience. SMEs led by a management team with digital and financial literacy are more effective in resource management for sustainable development practices, whereas experienced managers may not significantly prioritize managing resources for sustainability.

While research based on the UE theory significantly contributes to the body of knowledge on sustainable development, the role of managerial competencies, particularly business experience, financial literacy and digital literacy, in sustainable development strategy via resource management is neglected. This research fills this gap in the context of UE theory and thereby enriches the literature.

This study examines the influence of investor protection on stock price crash risk (SPCR) in Asian economies.

This study used yearly data from 432 nonfinancial companies publicly listed firms in six countries (i.e., China, India, Pakistan, Hong Kong, Japan and Singapore) from 2007 to 2020 to investigate the relationship between investor protection and the risk of stock price crashes. The hypothesis was tested using a generalized least square panel regression.

The results suggest that investor protection significantly affects SPCR in Asian economies. Furthermore, the findings show that the stocks of firms whose investors received the best protection were less prone to crash in developed Asian economies. However, in developing Asian economies, the stocks of firms whose investors received the best protection were more prone to crashes.

It provides awareness and understanding of how the level of investor protection affects SPCR, which could be useful for decision-makers and professionals across a spectrum of financial and non-financial institutions, such as portfolio managers and traders in commercial banks, investment banks and mutual funds. This knowledge enables informed decision-making and the formulation of effective policies to manage stock market volatility.

This study appears to be the first of its kind to focus on the link between investor protection and SPCR within the specific context of developed and developing Asian economies.