A 100% overlap double pass friction stir process technique was developed for the fabrication of AA1100/17-4 PH stainless steel composites, using an H13 tool steel cylindrical threaded pin with shoulder diameter of 21 mm, pin diameter of 7 mm and pin height of 5 mm. Grooves of 2 mm width and 3.5 mm depth were machined on the 6 mm thick AA1100 plate, where the 17-4 PH stainless steel powder was packed and compacted using a pinless tool. Friction stir processing was conducted at rotational speeds of 2100, 2450 and 2800 rpm, while the travel speed of 20 mm/min, tilt angle of 2.5° and plunge depth of 0.2 mm, were kept constant. Investigations were carried out on the microstructure, elemental composition, and tensile testing and microhardness as well as structural analysis using X-ray diffraction. Defect-free micrographs with good mechanical and metallurgical connections were obtained from all the employed process parameters. However, agglomeration of reinforcements became noticeable at 2450 and 2800 rpm. Uniform distribution of reinforcements were observed at 2100 rpm. Elemental analysis confirmed matrix and reinforcements blending and mixing. Superior SZ hardness of as high as 4 times that of the base metal were achieved, while ultimate tensile strength properties with joint efficiencies as high as 97.29% were attained at 2450 rpm. However, the percentage elongation of the fabricated samples dropped by around 10% due to the reinforcements-induced hardness. Nonetheless, the fabrications retained superior mechanical properties. All the X-ray diffractograms had 5 intense peaks with different phases and crystal planes. However, an Al syn (111) crystal plane was common to all diffractograms at around 39° 2θ range. The obtained crystallite sizes of as small as 4 nm revealed the attainment of ultrafine grains, while the observed high dislocation densities and micro strains gave an indication that the fabricated AA1100/17-4 PH stainless steel composite is of high strength.

Particle swarm optimization has been established to be one of the efficient algorithms for finding solutions for continuous optimization problems. The discretized form of particle swarm optimization, known as the discrete particle swarm optimization is an efficient tool for solving combinatorial optimization problems and other problems involving discrete variables. In this paper, a revised version of the discrete particle swarm optimization algorithm is proposed for solving Quadratic Assignment Problems (QAP). Instead of using the general velocity and position update procedures in particle swarm optimization algorithms, four different possible positions are found out for each particle and the best among them is accepted as the updated position. The algorithm is applied to solve some benchmark instances of QAP taken from QAP Library and the results show minute deviations from best-known solutions.

The Saudi Arabian insurance sector has two distinctive features. First, major revenue for this sector comes from the mandatory medical and motor insurance. Second, this sector is dominated by a few companies which generally provide the same products in the sector. Therefore, a company may focus on providing better service quality in order to attain future growth and stability. High-quality service is essential to gain a competitive advantage in the insurance sector. In this context, the present study identifies a gap in assessing the quality of service in the insurance sector of Saudi Arabia, using the SERVPERF scale in particular. Structural Equation Modeling is used to assess the quality of service. The results indicate that SERVPERF is not adequate to measure service quality in the context of Saudi Arabia. In the process, this study opens a debate on, whether a universally acknowledged SERVPERF scale is suitable to apply in an environment where service is of mandatory nature.

The present study reports on the application of accelerated cooling environment (ACE) in hard turning of AISI D2 steel (55 ± 1HRC) using mixed ceramic insert (Al2O3 + TiCN) which is rarely being investigated and to address the major problems of brittle fracture of tool tip that arises through cutting forces and friction at tool-work and chip-tool interface. In spraying process, some portion of spraying coolant vaporize due to heat when it reaches to cutting zone where as remaining portion of coolant easily penetrate in cutting zone through capillary action and reduces friction as well as heat in cutting zone. Abrasion and chipping are noticed to be dominant wear mechanism. Cutting speed and depth of cut are significant for flank wear as well as cutting temperature whereas feed is significant for average surface roughness. Serrated chips have been identified at higher cutting speed and higher feeds. Optimal parametric combination is found to be d1-f1-v2 (0.1mm-0.04 m/min-108 m/min) and tool life and machining cost per part are 70 minutes and Rs 76.76 respectively. Investigation shows the worthy of application of ACE in hard turning in industrial sectors ecologically and economically. Empirical models reveal statistically significance due to higher coefficient of correlations.

Present research is aimed to analyze the performance factors of flexible manufacturing systems by combined decision-making methodologies like analytical hierarchy process (AHP), combinatorial mathematics-based approach (CMBA) and improved ELECTRE. Six variables affecting the three factors of performance of flexible manufacturing systems viz. productivity, flexibility and quality are considered for the evaluation of performance factors. The weights of the attributes are calculated with AHP and the index score is calculated with CMBA methodology. CMBA methodology is the fusion of AHP and GTMA. ELECTRE approach has been used for the outranking of factors. The results show that productivity had the maximum impact on the performance of manufacturing systems. A high Spearman’s rank correlation also exists among the methods used.

Silicon carbide (SiC) particulate impregnated Al 7075 matrix composite was fabricated by stir casting method and then heat treated to T6 condition. It was then machined with multiple layer of TiN coated tungsten carbide (WC) inserts in dry environment and pollution free Spray Impingement Cooling (SIC) environment to compare the machining performance. SIC environment presented better machining performance with respect to cutting tool temperature (T), average roughness of the machined surface (Ra) and tool flank wear (VBc). Quadratic response surface models were developed by computing the experimental data. Weighted Principal Component Analysis (WPCA) based Taguchi technique was adopted to optimize the multiple responses simultaneously, which resulted 40 m/min of cutting speed (V), 0.05 mm/rev of feed (f) and 0.2 mm of cutting depth (d) was the optimal combination of process parameters.

This paper presents a statistical process control (SPC) chart for variables in a new feature for the paper machine in the paper industry. The traditional control charts like X-bar and R charts may be inadequate sometimes when the process exhibits abnormal situations which could lead to false decisions. When we are interested in detecting small shifts, Exponentially Weighted Moving average (EWMA) control chart provides the correct picture to make right decisions without affecting the process unnecessarily. This study is aimed at designing EWMA control chart in paper manufacturing process.

The development in internet technologies provides various innovative business opportunities and creates competitiveness among the electronic marketers in online marketing. The satisfaction of customers in e-purchase depends on various problems and facilities which are prevailing in the online market. The study was conducted with the aim of analyzing and ranking the problems of customers in online purchase. The study also examined the relationship between the demographic variables and problems faced by online customers. The data was collected from 512 online customers who are living in Bengaluru city, Karnataka through questionnaires during the month of August 2018. Garret ranking was used to find out the ranking distribution pattern of customers in online purchase. The problems ‘product variation’ and ‘faulty products’ have been quoted as the major problems faced by the online customers irrespective of the demographic their profile. The ranking pattern of the third major problem ‘delay in delivery’ differs with respect to education and customers’ income. The ranking pattern for the problem ‘fake website’ was significantly different with respect to gender, age and education of customers.

Bin packing problem is a constrained optimization problem with a huge search space due to large combinations. Bin packing problem has a wide range of applications in multiple fields. This paper presents harmony search algorithm with different initialization and adaptive PAR strategies for solving bin packing problem. The proposed Harmony search (HS) variations tests two partial feasible initialization strategies for bin packing problem. The paper presents adaptive PAR strategies for better exploration and exploitation of HS algorithm. The PAR values are tuned in every iteration. Improved initialization strategy, population initialization after premature convergence and adaptive PAR leads to the better exploration of harmony search algorithm for bin packing problem. The performance of variations are tested over 120 benchmark instances with 100 and 200 objects with varying complexities. The results show that improved HS performs better than basic HS with respect to best, mean, convergence rate. The performance of algorithms is tested with varying harmony memory size and harmony memory considering rate. Results show that variation in these two parameter values has less effect on performance of improved versions.

Several Plant products have been found to be a part of phytomedicines since time immemorial. These plant products can be derived from barks, leaves, flowers, roots, fruits, and seeds. It has been found that the light radiation affects the antimicrobial activity of herbal products. The present study was aimed to investigate the phytochemical screening and antimicrobial activities of Calotropis gigantea leaf extracts. In addition to these studies we also check the effect of UV light radiation on the anti microbial activity of leaf extract. Phytochemical screening revealed the presence of various active phytochemicals in the extracts of aerial part of Calotropis gigantea. Ethanol, chloroform and hexane extract of leaves were tested against Clostridium botulinum, Proteus vulgaris, Escherichia coli and Arthrographis cuboid, Aspergillus fumigatus, Aspergillus niger by the agar disc diffusion method. The antimicrobial activity of the extracts generally reduces significantly after exposure to the UV radiations.