The Pricing Strategy of Extended Warranty Services in Supply Chain Considering Response Time

To study the impact of response time on extended warranty services (EWS), the pricing strategy of EWS is discussed with different response time in a competitive environment. Considering of a two-level supply chain composed of one manufacturer, one self-owned retailer (SR) and one franchise retailer (FR), there exists the differentiated response time in EWS provided by SR and FR. Based on the consumer demand function in two cases, the optimal pricing strategy of EWS for supply chain members is analyzed. Research shows that: (1) The EWS price of SR increases with the increasing of the differential response time, but which of FR decreases and changing faster. (2) The manufacturer is more profitable when the differential response time is smaller, and two retailers’ profits continue to increase as the differential response time increasing. (3) The retailers\u27 profits are always higher than the manufacturer’s, and both supply chain members will choose the market that consumers are more sensitive to differentiated response time to realize their respective benefits. The conclusion provides enlightenment and reference for enterprises to make decision of EWS

Prediction of multi-bead profile of robotic wire and arc additive manufactured components recursively using axisymmetric drop shape analysis

Dimension prediction of robotic wire and arc additive manufacturing (WAAM) part is fundamentally dependent on the modelling accuracy of single-bead profile and its subsequent overlapping ones. Current multi-bead overlapping models are still not capable of describing the flatten valley area of WAAM parts. This paper proposes a new recursive model, based on coordinate transformation and axisymmetric drop shape analysis (ADSA), to predict multi-bead overlapping profiles. First, a single-bead profile model for WAAM is established based on ADSA, followed by detailed description of conventional and proposed modified recursive ADSA profile model. The properties of developed recursive ADSA model are then investigated to reveal the effects of overlapping ratio and single-bead aspect ratio. Finally, multi-bead overlapping deposition experiment is carried out to validate the model feasibility. The results show that the modified recursive ADSA model is more accurate than the conventional one for its better accountability of valley areas. It is also indicated that the modified recursive ADSA model is suitable for the robotic WAAM process. The research outcome is beneficial to improving the forming accuracy of WAAM parts and geometry prediction of other additive manufactured products

Remarkably high-temperature stable piezoelectric properties of Bi(Mg0.5Ti0.5)O3 modified BiFeO3-BaTiO3 ceramics

Dense (1-x)BiFe1-x(Mg0.5Ti0.5)xO3–yBaTiO3 (BFMT-BT, y=0.29, x=0-0.12) ceramics with a pseudocubic perovskite crystal structure exhibit remarkably high-temperature stable piezoelectric properties. In particular, x=0.03 BFMT-BT ceramics, with a Curie temperature, Tc, of ~425C, show a stable piezoelectric coefficient, d33, of ~155 pC/N up to a depolarization temperature, Td, of ~400C. This Td is higher than Tc for Pb(Zr,Ti)O3, therefore suggesting BFMT-BT ceramics to be promising high-temperature Pb-free piezoelectric materials

TRIM21 Promotes Oxidative Stress and Ferroptosis through the SQSTM1-NRF2-KEAP1 Axis to Increase the Titers of H5N1 Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza Virus

Tripartite motif-containing protein 21 (TRIM21) is involved in signal transduction and antiviral responses through the ubiquitination of protein targets. TRIM21 was reported to be related to the imbalance of host cell homeostasis caused by viral infection. Our studies indicated that H5N1 highly pathogenic avian influenza virus (HPAIV) infection up-regulated TRIM21 expression in A549 cells. Western blot and qPCR results showed that knockdown of TRIM21 alleviated oxidative stress and ferroptosis induced by H5N1 HPAIV and promoted the activation of antioxidant pathways. Co-IP results showed that TRIM21 promoted oxidative stress and ferroptosis by regulating the SQSTM1-NRF2-KEAP1 axis by increasing SQSTM1 K63-linked polyubiquitination under the condition of HPAIV infection. In addition, TRIM21 attenuated the inhibitory effect of antioxidant NAC on HPAIV titers and enhanced the promoting effect of ferroptosis agonist Erastin on HPAIV titers. Our findings provide new insight into the role of TRIM21 in oxidative stress and ferroptosis induced by viral infection

Experiments on the strength of Pengguan Complex under high temperature and high pressure and its implication to seismogenic mechanism of the Wenchuan earthquake

Two sets of deformation experiments were performed on fine-grained granite collected from the Pengguan Complex in the solid-medium triaxial apparatus under high temperature and high pressure. Temperature and pressure conditions in the experiments were designed based on the in situ conditions of the Longmenshan fault zone at depths of 5 similar to 30 km. Microstructures of the experimentally deformed samples were observed under polarizing microscope and scanning electron microscope (SEM). The tested samples from the two sets of experiments have high strength at conditions corresponding to a depth of 10 to 20 km, which corresponds to the brittle fracture to brittle-plastic transition domain. While the strength of the samples reduces obviously at conditions corresponding to the depth of 25 to 30 km, suggesting the samples are in the plastic flow. As a representative rock of the Pengguan Complex, granite has the strongest strength at the depth of 15 to 20 km, which is close to the ultimate strength in rheological profile. In this depth range, the rupture strength of the Pengguan Complex not only determines the strength of middle crust, but also controls unstable slide of fault, which means stick-slip of fault could happen and thus cause earthquake nucleation. Therefore, based on the strength data of the Pengguan Complex with the rheological profile and the frictional velocity dependence value (a-b) , we conclude that the high strength of the Pengguan Complex at the depth of 10 to 20 km is a crucial factor for the nucleation and generation of the Wenchuan earthquake

Microstructure Control and Friction Behavior Prediction of Laser Cladding Ni35A+TiC Composite Coatings

The premise of surface strengthening and repair of high valued components is to identify the relationship between coating formulation, structure, and properties. Based on the full factorial design, the effects of process parameters (laser power, scanning speed, gas-powder flow rate, and weight fraction of TiC) on the phase composition, microstructure, and element distribution of Ni35A/TiC cladding layer were investigated, followed by the cause identification of wear behavior. Through ANOVA, the correlation was established with good prediction accuracy (R2 = 0.9719). The most important factors affecting the wear rate of the cladding layer were recognized as laser power and particle ratio with a p-value < 0.001. The cladding layer was mainly comprised of Ni3Fe and TiC0.957. The excessive laser power would enhance the process of convection-diffusion of the melt pool, increase dilution, and improve wear volume. High laser power facilitates renucleation and growth of the hard phase, especially the complete growth of secondary axis dendrite for the top region. Increased TiC significantly changes the microstructure of the hard phase into a non-direction preferable structure, which prevents stress concentration at tips and further improves the mechanical properties. The research results are a valuable support for the manipulation of microstructure and prediction of wear behavior of composite cladding layer

Long-term stability of carbon dioxide electrolysis in a large-scale flat-tube solid oxide electrolysis cell based on double-sided air electrodes

Solid oxide electrolysis cell is a highly promising technology for CO2 electrolysis and has attracted wide attention. But the durability is insufficient by known designed structure of solid oxide electrolysis cell due to structure damage. In this work, a new flat-tube solid oxide electrolysis cell (SOEC) based on double-sided air electrodes with mechanically-strong redox properties and larger active area was proposed and applied to electrolysis of CO2, and its electrochemical performance and long-term durability were investigated. The results showed that the charging current density reaches -600 mA/cm(2) at 1.5 V and 750 degrees C under H-2/CO2 atmosphere. The CO2 conversion rate achieves 47.4% with energy conversation efficiency of 91.4% at the electrolysis voltage of 1.305 V under the charging current density of -400 mA/cm(2), corresponding to 210 mL/min of CO production rate. This new cell architecture for CO2 electrolysis was stable at the current density of -300 mA/cm(2) for 1910 h at 750 degrees C with a degradation rate of 4.89%/kh. The new flat-tube solid oxide electrolysis cell is capable to conduct CO2 electrolysis with high efficiency and long-term stability