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The purpose of this study is to reveal the friction reduction performance and mechanism of granular flow lubrication during the milling of difficult-to-machining materials and provide a high-performance lubrication method for the precision cutting of nickel-based alloys.

The milling tests for Inconel 718 superalloy under dry cutting, flood lubrication and granular flow lubrication were carried out, and the milling force and machined surface quality were used to evaluate their friction reduction effect. Furthermore, based on the energy dispersive spectrometer (EDS) spectrums and the topographical features of machined surface, the lubrication mechanism of different granular mediums was explored during granular flow lubrication.

Compared with flood lubrication, the granular flow lubrication had a significant force reduction effect, and the maximum milling force was reduced by about 30%. At the same time, the granular flow lubrication was more conducive to reducing the tool trace size, repressing surface damage and thus achieving better surface quality. The soft particles had better friction reduction performance than the hard particles with the same particle size, and the friction reduction performance of nanoscale hard particles was superior to that of microscale hard particles. The friction reduction mechanism of MoS₂ and WS₂ soft particles is the mending effect and adsorption film effect, whereas that of SiO₂ and Al₂O₃ hard particles is mainly manifested as the rolling and polishing effect.

Granular flow lubrication was applied in the precision milling of Inconel 718 superalloy, and a comparative study was conducted on the friction reduction performance of soft particles (MoS₂, WS₂) and hard particles (SiO₂, Al₂O₃). Based on the EDS spectrums and topographical features of machined surface, the friction reduction mechanism of soft and hard particles was explored.

After three years of economic reform in urban areas, China has been confronted with a series of choices. Six of these choices are examined: the focus of the reform, its approach, its target, the pattern of national economic macro‐management, the macro‐economic policy, and the pace of the reform. It is held that the focus of the reform should be the establishment of a planned commodity economic system, which is the correct target of the reform; such a reform must be carried out step by step, systematically and in the light of an integrated design worked out in advance, with greater paces to shorten the period in which two systems confront each other; the macro‐management of the economy should be carried out by the central authority on the basis of an integrated market rather than administrative decentralisation; the money supply should be controlled in order to create a relatively relaxed environment for reform. On each of the six aspects, other prevailing views are analysed.

Regardless of the facts showing a booming Chinese cruise market, cruise operations in China are very different from the current practices of the two major cruise markets – the US and the Mediterranean Sea. This study aims to quantify pricing strategies and possible incentive mechanisms of cruise operations in China.

Using optimization in economic-based game theory, the complexity of the pricing strategies and interaction and/or possible coordination within the cruise value-added chain can be captured.

The results show that a coordinative pricing strategy with Shapley profit redistribution within the value-added chain offers benefits to both cruise passengers and service suppliers. With two subsidy scenarios, one to the passenger and the other to the travel agent, a cooperative pricing strategy outperforms other strategies and successfully increases market shares and total revenue.

The advantages of coordination between participants in cruise value chain are quantified. Effective strategies for attracting players participating in cruise value chain are designed. This paper will provide market participants with strategies to enhance their decision-making processes.

The proliferation of Artificial Intelligence of Things (AIoT) devices has introduced notable privacy concerns, influencing user adoption and trust. This study integrates privacy calculus theory with the technology acceptance model to analyze how privacy risk perception affects users’ intentions to adopt and continue using AIoT devices.

A research model was developed and validated using data from 313 AIoT users. Findings indicate that perceived usefulness and ease of use significantly enhance users’ trust in AIoT devices. Additionally, prior privacy experiences and privacy knowledge amplify users’ privacy concerns.

Privacy risk perception and concerns reduce trust in AIoT devices but do not significantly deter continued usage intentions, highlighting a “privacy paradox” where functionality and convenience outweigh privacy concerns. Future research is encouraged to examine user attitudes across diverse demographics and controlled settings to gain deeper insights into privacy perceptions and behaviors toward AIoT.

These findings contribute to a comprehensive understanding of AIoT adoption dynamics and offer practical implications for designing privacy-conscious AIoT applications.

This research aims to investigate the influence of consumers' anticipated trust in service providers on brand switching intention and its underlying psychological mechanism. More importantly, this study explores the moderating role of type of service providers (human staff/humanoid robots/nonhumanoid robots).

This study adopted two single-factor between-subjects experimental designs and tested the hypotheses in two typical service failure scenarios: Study 1, a hotel scenario (N = 403); and Study 2, a restaurant scenario (N = 323).

The results suggest that there is an inverted U-shaped relationship between consumers' anticipated trust and tolerance of service failure and that such tolerance has a mediating effect on the relationship between anticipated trust and brand switching intention. Moreover, when service failure is caused by a humanoid service robot, a moderate anticipated trust level of consumers is most conducive to increasing tolerance, which in turn reduces their propensity to switch brands.

This study examines the nature of the relationship between anticipated trust and tolerance in a service failure context, revealing an inverted U-shaped relationship. More importantly, the boundary conditions under which different service provides have an influence on this relationship are incorporated. Finally, this study explores the influence of service failure tolerance on brand switching intentions in a technological context, enriching consumer–brand relationship research.