Facility location models are observed in many diverse areas such as communication networks, transportation, and distribution systems planning. They play significant role in supply chain and operations management and are one of the main well-known topics in strategic agenda of contemporary manufacturing and service companies accompanied by long-lasting effects. We define a new approach for solving stochastic single source capacitated facility location problem (SSSCFLP). Customers with stochastic demand are assigned to set of capacitated facilities that are selected to serve them. It is demonstrated that problem can be transformed to deterministic Single Source Capacitated Facility Location Problem (SSCFLP) for Poisson demand distribution. A hybrid algorithm which combines Lagrangian heuristic with adjusted mixture of Ant colony and Genetic optimization is proposed to find lower and upper bounds for this problem. Computational results of various instances with distinct properties indicate that proposed solving approach is efficient.

Structural irregularity is a crucial issue in assessing seismic vulnerability of both new and existing buildings. European technical codes provide simple criteria to define irregularities in plan and in elevation, amplifying the seismic actions and/or introducing torsional effects. Nevertheless, this approach only considers geometrical irregularity. For existing buildings, another source of irregularity comes from the non-uniform distribution of the material strength. In particular, for existing reinforced concrete (r.c.) structures, it is possible to detect significant spread of the concrete compressive strength not only from different structural elements but also from different parts of the same member. In this work, non-linear static analysis is performed on two case-studies of r.c. buildings characterized by geometrical and mechanical irregularity. The resistance of each column is determined with an extensive experimental campaign with in situ and laboratory test (about 600 in situ tests). The results are analyzed considering both local and global effects in terms of resistance of the single elements and of the entire buildings. In this sense, shear and bending failure mechanism are taken into account. The effect of story flexibility is also considered in the models. Fragility curves are calculated for the buildings with random distribution of the compressive strength of the columns. The results are then compared with the approaches proposed by the Eurocodes evaluating in the standard approach proposed by technical codes is conservative or not.

Successful flow-shop scheduling outlines a more rapid and efficient process of order fulfilment in warehouse activities. Indeed the way and the speed of order processing and, in particular, the operations concerning materials handling between the upper stocking area and a lower forward picking one must be optimized. The two activities, drops and pickings, have considerable impact on important performance parameters for Supply Chain wholesaler companies. In this paper, a new flow shop scheduling algorithm is formulated in order to process a greater number of orders by replacing the FIFO logic for the drops activities of a wholesaler company on a daily basis. The System Dynamics modelling and simulation have been used to simulate the actual scenario and the output solutions. Finally, a t-Student test validates the modelled algorithm, granting that it can be used for all wholesalers based on drop and picking activities.

Taking tourists’ perspective rather than destination offerings as its core concept, this study introduces “perceived destination brand worldness” as a variable. Perceived destination brand worldness is defined as the positive perception that a tourist has of a country that is visited by tourists from all over the world. Then, the relationship between perceived destination brand worldness and intention to revisit is analyzed using partial least squares regression. This empirical study selects Taiwanese tourists as its sample, and the results show that perceived destination brand worldness is a direct predictor of intention to revisit. In light of these empirical findings and observations, practical and theoretical implications are discussed.

Proper functioning of electrical connectors used in high oscillation is of great importance. Vibrations in connector pins cause stress and electrical resistance variations in the contact surface. In the present paper, the impacts of vibrational loads on electrical connectors is being modeled using the finite element method, and the electrical resistance oscillations of the connectors will be examined. Ultimately, the parameters affecting the electrical resistance oscillations of contacts will be determined and their relations with oscillations in electrical resistance are specified as well.

Failure analyses require more and more reliable and robust approaches to structural response prediction. This represents a quite complex task to be accomplished especially when dealing with historical or ancient constructions in seismic geographic areas. The paper is aimed at providing approaches to the analysis of buildings alternative to simplified methods usually adopted in professional practice, which do typically involve drastic simplifications of the fabric. The approach allows developing full holonomic non-linear analyses for forecasting the behavior of structural panels present in the structural system, and it results in higher reliability and flexibility than ordinary procedures that are generally adopted in commercial software and are typically based on gross simplifications of the real structure. The presented method allows taking into account the real geometry of the masonry building under analysis, also including a number of elements such as architraves, tendons or reinforcements possibly incorporated into the walls. Besides the consistent improved reliability in performing structural analyses under quasi-static loads, the main potential of the approach is related to the possibility of developing its extension for performing dynamic analyses quite easily.

This paper illustrates an innovative manufacturing procedure for producing handcrafted interlocking stabilized compressed earth blocks (ISCEBs). A comparison of the mechanical properties of ISCEBs is conducted to assess the influence of varying components. The ISCEBs are manufactured by employing different block densities with three distinct mixtures (earth, earth and lime, earth and straw) and by using a human-powered machine named Float RAM 1.0 Press. The manual press was conceived for regions with limited access to technology and allows the production of interlocking blocks via two modes of compaction: mono-directional and bi-directional. A production average of approximately 30 blocks/hour corresponding to the work of three people is achieved. Three-point bending tests and uniaxial compression tests are carried out to investigate the ISCEB mechanical behaviour. The improvements obtained by incorporating additives into the subset of ISCEBs made from a pure earth mixture are tested. The aim of this work is to identify, for this specific technology, the relationship between production parameters and the consequent behaviour of different stabilization methods. A correlation is found between the compaction force and the compression strength of ISCEBs. The addition of lime increases strength and causes the blocks to exhibit a brittle behaviour. Moreover, the incorporation of straw fibres improves the tensile strength and ductility without significantly affecting the compression strength of the blocks. Energy-based parameters are obtained for all the tests, allowing the assessment of the ISCEB mechanical and dissipation properties.

This paper presents a methodology for the design and integration of CONWIP in a make-to-order firm. The approach proposed was applied directly to the flexible job shop of a real manufacturing firm in order to assess the validity of the methodology. After the description of the whole plant layout, attention was focused on a section of the shop floor (21 workstations). The CONWIP system deals with multiple-product families and is characterized by path-type cards and a pull-from-the-bottleneck scheme. The cards release strategy and a customized dispatching rule were created to meet the firm’s specific needs. After the simulation model of the present state was built and validated, the future state to be implemented was created and simulated (i.e. the CONWIP system). The comparison between the two systems achieved excellent results, and showed that CONWIP is a very interesting tool for planning and controlling a complex flexible job shop.

A review of some recent data from multiaxial fatigue data from different notched materials is carried out in the paper. The approach based on the strain energy density (SED) averaged over a control volume is first used to summarise uniaxial and multiaxial fatigue strength data of welded joints made of structural steel and aluminium alloys. In all welded joints, the weld toe and weld root regions are modelled like sharp, zero radius, V-notches with different opening angles. The control volume radius is 0.28 mm for structural steels, 0.12 mm for aluminium alloys. Afterwards the SED approach is applied to multi-axial fatigue data from plain and V-notched specimens made of AISI 416 stainless steel (hardened and tempered state), subjected to tension, torsion and combined tension and torsion, both in-phase and out-of-phase. Notched specimens are characterised by a very small root radius, ρ=0.1 mm, which results in high nonlinear effects ahead of the notch tips. All results are summarised in terms of Δ W-N (SED range versus cycles to failure) scatterbands. Together with the new results, a number of multi-axial fatigue data recently obtained from sharply notched specimens made of C40 steel (normalised state) and 39NiCrMo3 steel (hardened and tempered state) are represented with the aim to provide a global synthesis in terms of local SED. Finally a synthesis from Ti6Al4V alloy is carried out showing the capability of the SED approach to be applied also to light alloys.

The linear elastic analysis of homogeneous, isotropic cracked bodies started in the 1900s. The existence of three dimensional corner point effects in the vicinity of a corner point where a crack front intersects a free surface was investigated in the late 1970s. An approximate solution by Bažant and Estenssoro explained some features of corner point effects but there were various paradoxes and inconsistencies. Results derived from finite element models showed that the analysis is incomplete. The stress field in the vicinity of a corner point appears to be the sum of two different singularities (i.e. stress intensity factors and corner point singularities). In this paper some recent results for the corner point singularities under in and out of plane loadings is reviewed and discussed.