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The directional solidification Fe-B alloy was prepared. The microstructures and three-body abrasive wear behaviors of directional solidification alloy were investigated.

Fe-B alloy was melted in medium frequency induction furnace. The hardness was measured on HRS-150 Rockwell-hardness tester and HXD-1000TMC tester. The wear characteristic of the alloy was examined with a block-on-ring geometry. The worn surface of the alloy was investigated by scanning electron microscopy and laser scanning microscopy.

The wear weight loss and worn surface roughness increase with the increasing contact load in wear tests. When the worn surface is perpendicular to the boride growth direction, the highest hardness plane of the boride can resist abrasive effectively under the surrounding and supporting of the martensite matrix.

The relation between boride growth direction and wear direction will cause different boride breaking tendency and wear weight loss.

This study aims to develop a new kind of functional low molecular weight organic dyes, which is highly efficient, meanwhile inexpensive and easily prepared and modified and can be used in photoacoustic (PA) imaging and photothermal therapy (PTT). To further realize the release of molecules under the biomedical condition, the releasing efficiency of micellar nanoparticles under different stimuli were represented.

A class of azo and Schiff base derivatives with different click reagents were characterized by PA imaging and photothermal (PT) experiments. The molecule with best PT effect was loaded into a temperature-stimuli-sensitive amphiphilic block copolymer which demonstrated the capability of releasing the polymers under the near-infrared (NIR) light of 650 nm.

The PA and PT effects of a series of azo and Schiff base derivatives with different click reagents were characterized. Introducing the click reagent F4-TCNQ can result in red shift of peaks of PA intensity. Stimulated with 650 nm laser irradiation, the polymer processed higher release rate than being stimulated by temperature stimuli.

This paper not only guides the design of NIR dyes with good PA intensity but also provides a method which has great potential for the application of NIR photothermal dyes in the field of biotechnology for controlled release.

This paper uses click reagents to modify azo and Schiff derivatives and an amphiphilic block copolymer under NIR light to realize controlled release.

The purpose of this paper is to capture the up-to-date development of quality management (QM) programs in China’s manufacturing landscape. The study aims to gain understanding on the current state-of-the-art QM programs adopted by Chinese manufacturing companies. Furthermore, the study investigates the key drivers and organizational characteristics that may shape the decisions on QM program adoption.

To gain a deep understanding of QM in China’s manufacturing landscape, in-depth interviews were conducted with production managers, quality managers, and/or executives of 12 manufacturing companies in four cities in China in May and June 2012. Each interview lasted about two hours and covered all aspects of QM in the business, including what quality programs are in place and why the business adopts and implements these programs. Grounded theory approach is used to conduct qualitative analysis on the interview transcripts using NVivo 9, a qualitative data analysis program.

Two categories of QM programs adopted by Chinese companies emerged from the analysis, namely, QM systems and QM certifications. QM systems include Total Quality Management (TQM), Six Sigma, and Lean. QM certification includes ISO 9000 series standard certificates, ISO 14000 certificate, OHSAS heath certificates, government regulatory certificates, and industry certificates. The authors found while Six Sigma and Lean adoption is related to parent company requirement, TQM adoption is related to internal quality improvement and control, quality assurance, leadership ideology, culture, and employee commitment. QM certification adoption is significantly related to external drivers. Regarding the effect of organizational characteristics, the study reveals that while corporate governance and ownership influence parent company requirements as an adoption driver, industry, product, and market segmentation influence industry requirements and government regulations as adoption drivers.

The findings and proposed conceptual framework are based on qualitative data collected from 12 companies in four cities in China, which may be limited to represent and reveal every aspect of QM programs adopted in Chinese manufacturing industries. The findings provide theoretical propositions that can be verified using a large sample set in future studies. In addition, although the study identified a variety of QM programs adopted, how these programs are implemented warrants further investigation.

This study gives a status update and in-depth investigation on the development of QM programs adopted in Chinese manufacturing companies. How internal drivers, external drivers, and organizational characteristics shape companies’ decision on program adoption were explored. The study results provide implications not only for companies that are involved in supply chains with operations in China, but also for Chinese domestic companies competing in global markets to have QM systems in place to ensure quality performance.

This study used multiple case study approach and grounded theory approach to conduct in-depth investigation on the current state of QM landscape in China’s manufacturing companies. It contributes to the body of knowledge on QM programs in China by uncovering the linkages between program adoption, key drivers, and organizational characteristics in an integrated framework.

The purpose of this paper is to study the functionality of additively manufactured (AM) parts, mainly depending on their dimensional accuracy and surface finish. However, the products manufactured using AM usually suffer from defects like roughness or uneven surfaces. This paper discusses the various surface quality improvement techniques, including how to reduce surface defects, surface roughness and dimensional accuracy of AM parts.

There are many different types of popular AM methods. Unfortunately, these AM methods are susceptible to different kinds of surface defects in the product. As a result, pre- and postprocessing efforts and control of various AM process parameters are needed to improve the surface quality and reduce surface roughness.

In this paper, the various surface quality improvement methods are categorized based on the type of materials, working principles of AM and types of finishing processes. They have been divided into chemical, thermal, mechanical and hybrid-based categories.

The review has evaluated the possibility of various surface finishing methods for enhancing the surface quality of AM parts. It has also discussed the research perspective of these methods for surface finishing of AM parts at micro- to nanolevel surface roughness and better dimensional accuracy.

This paper represents a comprehensive review of surface quality improvement methods for both metals and polymer-based AM parts.