Search results

This study aims to examine the springback behavior of 15-5 PH stainless steel, which is widely used in the aviation industry.

The shaping sheet metal with a diaphragm is a widely used shaping method in aviation. In this process, the sheet metal is attached to the mold, placed in the form machine and pressure is applied. The diaphragm, which swells under the influence of gas, transmits pressure to the sheet metal surface and allows the mold to take its shape. One of the behaviors that occurs in the part after processing is springback. The mold design is shaped according to this springing amount. Some prominent parameters in the amount of springback are bending radius, bending angle, material thickness and material type. Material thickness is taken as 0.813, 1.27, 1.6 and 2 mm for experimental studies. This study compares the general full factorial design with the 2k factorial design. Then, the authors get analysis of variance (ANOVA) tables for the experiments and finite element analysis results, respectively.

At the end of the study, a mathematical expression was obtained that gives the springback rate with an accuracy of over 90%, depending on the process parameters, in 15-5 PH material. In addition, the main effects of the working parameters on the springback behavior were revealed by ANOVA method.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is a new application that provides robust results to the springback minimization for the sheet metal bending process.

Provides a multi‐criteria performance measurement model to measure the profitability performance of a manufacturing system. In developing the model, analytic hierarchy process (AHP) and its extension system‐with‐feedback (SWF) approaches are used. The SWF approach, an extension of the AHP method, is recommended when independence among different elements of a system assumption is violated. In a manufacturing system, the system’s performance criteria are interrelated. When the level of a single system criterion is changed, other criteria must be considered simultaneously. Also, the relative importance of these criteria with respect to each other and their contribution to the overall profitability is directly affected by the competitive strategy applied by the manufacturing system. The performance evaluation model developed in this study includes the competitive strategy and interdependence between the system criteria in its hierarchical structure and achieves a more realistic and accurate representation of a manufacturing system.

Sustainable economic growth in both developed and developing countries requires the restructuring and expansion of road transportation infrastructures (RTIs). However, RTIs are always subject to high costs and delays, especially in developing countries with fewer resources than developed ones. Cost overruns and inaccurate forecasts usually lead to project failures. In this regard, some governments in developing countries have adopted public–private partnerships (PPPs) to deliver RTI projects with very positive outcomes. However, academic research has not yet studied the most recurring barriers and associated solutions to adopting PPPs in RTIs particularly for developing countries. This paper aims to fill up this knowledge gap in the existing literature.

A Delphi survey method involving 103 experts in RTIs based in Iran was implemented. Results indicated that the most perceived barriers to applying PPPs in RTIs in developing countries are linked to political, legal and economic factors. Ten other experts also participated in semistructured interviews, which were thematically analyzed to provide practical effective solutions for overcoming those identified barriers.

The findings indicated that all the presented barriers achieved above-average scores and could be considered severe obstacles of applying PPPs in RTIs for developing countries. In terms of barriers and solutions reported, these seem to converge on three profound elements: political stability, legal framework and conjoint management.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first-ever research study regarding the barriers to adopting PPPs in delivering RTI projects for developing countries. Practical recommendations for overcoming these perceived barriers and achieving better implementation of PPPs in RTIs for developing countries were advocated. This work has contributed to the extant PPP theory as the management of coproduction in delivering RTI projects.

The Covid-19 pandemic spread rapidly around the world and required strict restriction plans and policies. In most countries around the world, the outbreak of the disease has been serious and has greatly affected the health system and the economy. The factors such as the number of patients with chronic diseases, the number of people over 65 years old, hospital facilities, the number of confirmed Covid-19 cases, the recovering Covid-19 cases and the number of deaths affect the rate of spread of Covid-19. This study aims to evaluate the performances of 21 Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries against the Covid-19 outbreak using three data envelopment analysis (DEA) models.

In this study, the performance of 21 OECD countries to manage the Covid-19 process has been analysed weekly via DEA which is widely used in various practical problems and provides a general framework for efficiency evaluation problems using the inputs and outputs of decision-making units.

The analysis showed that 11 countries out of 21 countries were efficient for selected weeks. According to the DEA results from the 20-week review (09 April 2020–20 August 2020), information about the course of the epidemic prevention and the normalization process for any country can be obtained.

In this study, due to the problem of the discrimination power of DEA, the cross-efficiency model and the super-efficiency model also used. In addition, the output-oriented model was preferred in this study for Covid-19 management efficiency.

This study aims to reveal the mediating role of patient satisfaction on the impact of relationship marketing on hospital loyalty.

The scale questionnaires used in the study was the Relationship Marketing, Hospital Loyalty and the Patient Satisfaction Scale. The population of the study is made up of the patients who received in-hospital services in private hospitals operating in Kocaeli province. The field study was conducted between August 1 and October 31, 2019. After determining the sample size, the study was conducted on 401 patients in private hospitals primarily using the purposive sampling method. Descriptive statistics, correlation analysis and statistical package for the social sciences Process Macro were used to analyze the data.

According to the findings of this study, patient satisfaction has an effect on hospital loyalty. Relationship marketing has an impact on hospital loyalty, and this effect is further enhanced by patient satisfaction. In other words, patient satisfaction has a mediating role in the impact of relationship marketing on hospital loyalty. Relationship marketing plays an important role in creating hospital loyalty and patient satisfaction. For this reason, it is recommended that health institutions adopt relationship marketing practices. Hospital loyalty and patient satisfaction will be ensured through relationship marketing. This will allow the health-care institution to continue to exist and to be more advantageous than other institutions.

The uniqueness of the paper lies not only in the only regression findings but also in the methodology used to capture the impact of the lagged effect of marketing relationships on hospital loyalty. Specifically, a regression model is based on both direct and indirect effects.

Examines the tenth published year of the ITCRR. Runs the whole gamut of textile innovation, research and testing, some of which investigates hitherto untouched aspects. Subjects discussed include cotton fabric processing, asbestos substitutes, textile adjuncts to cardiovascular surgery, wet textile processes, hand evaluation, nanotechnology, thermoplastic composites, robotic ironing, protective clothing (agricultural and industrial), ecological aspects of fibre properties – to name but a few! There would appear to be no limit to the future potential for textile applications.

The authors present a location selection model for the field hospital to build after a possible earthquake in Ankara, Turkey using the VIKOR method.

Companies or governments that make location selection decisions to improve their performance in new investment decisions for different service industries. On the other hand, disasters, especially earthquakes, force the governments to evaluate their existing potentialities and develop action plans to improve their middle and long-term preparations. This paper proposes a VIKOR method-based location selection model for the field hospital to build after a possible earthquake. Also, the authors present a methodology using the VIKOR method that how government agencies take action for the field hospital's location selection process via VIKOR methodology.

The modeling and application results show that the field hospital's location selection decision-making process improves considerably using the VIKOR model. This paper shows that the proposed VIKOR-based model can rank alternatives suitability at various criteria targeting to minimize the possible earthquake's impact and obtains a single overall ranking score to select the best alternative.

The study does not consider the uncertain nature of the field hospital selection problem. The application part is restricted to the Ankara case. But the proposed model can easily extend for different locations in the world.

This paper presents the multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) framework study of the establishment of field hospitals and demonstrates its importance when criteria diversity is restricted.