Search results

The case describes how Radio Mirchi dealt with competition in the Bangalore FM radio market. Radio Mirchi's market share in Bangalore started declining within a few months of its successful launch, following the entry of new competitors in the market. The case discusses strategies adopted by the company to regain its market share and become the market leader. It describes the initial product offering of the channel, why it felt the need to redesign its product mix, and eventually how the company changed its product offering. The focus of the case is on the dilemma faced by the organization while shifting to a new product and service design in the face of emerging competition. The case highlights the importance of continuously monitoring the market environment and developing a keen understanding of the consumers' behaviour for an organization to gain and sustain its leadership position in the marketplace.

Fingerprints and blood samples are important for the identification of individuals and criminals. The present study aims to identify the predominant fingerprint patterns and the association between the fingerprint patterns and ABO–Rh blood groups in Omani population.

A cross-sectional study was conducted on 200 Omani individuals aged 18 years (104 males and 96 females). The imprints of all right and left-hand fingers were taken, and the types of the fingerprints were determined using a standard protocol. The blood group of all the subjects was recorded. Chi-square test was performed to identify the association between the fingerprint patterns and the ABO and Rh blood groups.

The loop fingerprint pattern was the most common in Omani subjects (49.4%), followed by whorl (44.9%) and arch (5.7%) pattern. A significant association (p < 0.001) was found between gender and fingerprint pattern. The loop was the highest occurring pattern in the females (54.6%), while the whorl was more in males (50.0%). The whorl pattern was the most common in the AB+ and O− groups. The loop was a predominant pattern in the A+, A−, B+, B− and O+ groups. The Chi-square test also revealed a significant correlation between different fingerprint patterns and blood groups of the subjects (p < 0.001).

The present study is an outcome of undergraduate student's research project thesis for the Doctor of Medicine (MD) program. The results of the present study may help in creating a data bank for biometrics, which can be useful for diagnosing associated diseases and also help in identification of individuals.

A porous cavity flow field generates entropy owing to energy and momentum exchange within the fluid and at solid barriers. The heat transport and viscosity effects on fluid and solid walls irreversibly generate entropy. This numerical study aims to investigate convective heat transfer together with entropy generation in a partially heated wavy porous cavity filled with a hybrid nanofluid.

The governing equations are nondimensionalized and the domain is transformed into a unit square. A second-order finite difference method is used to have numerical solutions to nondimensional unknowns such as stream function and temperature. This numerical computation is conducted to explore a wide range of regulating parameters, e.g. hybrid nano-particle volume fraction (σ = 0.1%, 0.33%, 0.75%, 1%, 2%), Rayleigh–Darcy number (Ra = 10, 10², 10³), dimensionless length of the heat source (ϵ = 0.25, 0.50,1.0) and amplitude of the wave (a = 0.05, 0.10, 0.15) for a number of undulations (N = 1, 3) per unit length.

A thorough analysis is conducted to analyze the effect of multiple factors such as thermal convective forces, heat source, surface corrugation factors, nanofluid volume fraction and other parameters on entropy generation. The flow and temperature fields are studied through streamlines and isotherms. The average Bejan number suggested that entropy generation is entirely dominated by irreversibility due to heat transport at Ra = 10, and the irreversibility due to the viscosity effect is severe at Ra = 10³, but the increment in s augments irreversibility due to the viscosity effect over the heat transport at Ra = 10².

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this numerical study, for the first time, analyzes the influence of surface corrugation on the entropy generation related to the cooling of a partial heat source by the convection of a hybrid nanofluid.

The purpose of this paper is to develop a general mathematical model for the evaluation of the bending and vibration responses of the skew sandwich composite plate using higher-order shear deformation theory. The sandwich structural components are highly preferable in modern engineering application because of their desirable structural advantages despite the manufacturing and analysis complexities. The present model is developed to solve the bending and vibration problem of the skew sandwich composite plate with adequate accuracy numerically in the absence of the experimental analysis.

The skew sandwich composite plate structure is modelled in the present analysis by considering laminated face sheet in conjunction with isotropic and/or orthotropic core numerically with the help of the higher-order mathematical model. Further, the responses are computed numerically with the help of in-house computer code developed in matrix laboratory (MATLAB) environment in conjunction with finite element (FE) steps. The system governing equations are derived via variational technique for the computation of the static and the frequency responses.

The skew sandwich composite plate is investigated using the higher-order kinematic model where the transverse displacement through the thickness is considered to be linear. The convergence and the validation study of the bending and the frequency values of the sandwich structure indicate the necessary accuracy. Further, the current model has been used to highlight the applicability of the higher-order kinematics for the evaluation of the sandwich structural responses (frequency and static deflections) for different design parameters.

In the present paper, the bending and the vibration responses of the skew sandwich composite plate are analysed numerically using the equivalent single-layer higher-order kinematic theory for the isotropic and the orthotropic core numerically with the help of isoparametric FE steps. Finally, it is understood that the present model is capable of solving the sandwich structural responses with less computation cost and adequate accuracy.

The purpose of this study is to highlight the direct fabrication of rapid tooling (RT) with desired mechanical, tribological and thermal properties using fused deposition modelling (FDM) process. Further, the review paper demonstrated development procedure of alternative feedstock filament of low-cost composite material for FDM to extend the range of RT applications.

The alternative materials for FDM and their processing requirements for fabrication in filament form as reported by various researchers have been summarized. The literature demonstrates the role of various post-processing techniques on surface finish of FDM prints. Further, low-cost materials for feedstock filament have been investigated experimentally to check their adaptability/suitability for commercial FDM setup. The approach was to realize the requirements of FDM (melt flow rate, flexibility, stiffness, glass transition temperature and mechanical strength), necessary for the successful run of an alternative filament. The effect of constituents (additives, plasticizers, surfactants and fillers) in polymeric matrix on mechanical, tribological and thermal properties has been investigated.

It is possible to develop composite material feedstock as filament for commercial FDM setup without changing its hardware and software. Surface finish of the parts can further be improved by applying various post-processing techniques. Most of the composite parts have high mechanical strength, hardness, thermal stability, wear resistant and better bond formation than standard material parts.

Future research may be focused on improving the surface quality of parts fabricated with composite feedstock, solving issues related to the uniform distribution of filled materials during the fabrication of feedstock filament which in turns further increases mechanical strength, high dimensional stability of composite filament and transferring the technology from laboratory scale to various industrial applications.

Potential applications of direct fabrication with RT includes rapid manufacturing (RM) of metal-filled parts and ceramic-filled parts (which have complex shape and cannot be rapidly made by any other manufacturing techniques) in the field of biomedical and dentistry.

This new manufacturing methodology is based on the proper selection and processing of various materials and additives to form high-performance, low-cost composite material feedstock filament (which fulfil the necessary requirements of FDM process). Finally, newly developed feedstock filament material has both quantitative and qualitative advantage in RT and RM applications as compared to standard material filament.