The automotive industry is characterized by a high degree of uncertainty. Companies are facing the challenge of producing different systems simultaneously. Additionally, the global quantity of electric vehicles is also expected to increase significantly. This results in the following capability to remain competitive: Effective and efficient adaptions of production systems to model variations and volume increases. While flexible production is identified as the most promising concept, defining the actual flexibility level of included production resources is essential for its proper realization. A literature review on existing flexibility assessment approaches revealed their emphasis on high-level enablers and limited practical applicability in the automotive industry. In contrast, focusing the assessment on single workstations supports the selection of appropriate production resources. Therefore, a simple and structured standard procedure for a production resource flexibility assessment was developed. This theoretical construct was subsequently complemented with practical insights through its application on two real-life case studies within one automotive engineering company. Summarizing and discussing the findings in combination with a conclusion completed this paper.

The article presents an overview of polymeric materials for flexible substrates in photovoltaic (PV) structures that could be used as power supply in the personal electronic systems. Four types of polymers have been elected for testing. The first two are the most specialized and heat resistant polyimide films. The third material is transparent polyethylene terephthalate film from the group of polyesters which was proposed as a cheap and commercially available substrate for the technology of photovoltaic cells in a superstrate configuration. The last selected polymeric material is a polysiloxane, which meets the criteria of high elasticity, is temperature resistant and it is also characterized by relatively high transparency in the visible light range. For themost promising of these materials additional studies were performed in order to select those of them which represent the best optical, mechanical and temperature parameters according to their usage for flexible substrates in solar cells.

The awareness of the growing importance of the complexity in creating a new type of a modern enterprise strategy and in introducing changes within planning, control and organizational structures contributed to undertaking studies on relationships occurring between the complexity of a modern enterprise and its flexibility in the sector of industrial automation, as well as filling the gap relating to the cognitive impact of poor complexity management on the flexibility of the company. The main objective of the research work is to check whether there is an important relationship between the complexity of the business and its flexibility in the industrial automation sector. Quantification of the relationship between these two quantities – the complexity and flexibility – happened by the use of the Multidimensional Correspondence Analysis (MCA) and Perceptual Maps. The study which has been carried out indicated that the flexibility and complexity functions in the enterprise management rise, however, the knowledge of these issues is highly insufficient. The research discovered that the obstacles which hamper striking a balance between the flexibility and complexity in their advanced stages exert a devastating impact on the quality of the process management. Reducing the flexibility at its higher levels generates a context in which the market risk is enhanced. Companies characterised by improper flexibility management bear higher workforce costs and their processes of decision-making last longer. Methodical and systematized study of flexibility and complexity will decrease the destructive influence of the interaction between these two categories.

Developing novel methods, approaches and computational techniques is essential for solving efficiently more and more demanding up-to-date engineering problems. Designing durable, light and eco-friendly structures starts at the conceptual stage, where new efficient design and optimization tools need to be implemented. Nowadays, apart from the traditional gradient-based methods applied to optimal structural and material design, innovative techniques based on versatile heuristic concepts, like for example Cellular Automata, are implemented. Cellular Automata are built to represent mechanical systems where the special local update rules are implemented to mimic the performance of complex systems. This paper presents a novel concept of flexible Cellular Automata rules and their implementation into topology optimization process. Despite a few decades of development, topology optimization still remains one of the most important research fields within the area of structural and material design. One can notice novel ideas and formulations as well as new fields of their implementation. What stimulates that progress is that the researcher community continuously works on innovative and efficient topology optimization methods and algorithms. The proposed algorithm combined with an efficient analysis system ANSYS offers a fast convergence of the topology generation process and allows obtaining well-defined final topologies.

Understanding and measuring mental well-being among adolescents has recently become a priority. The validity and reliability study of the 7-item short version of the Warwick Edinburgh Mental Well-Being Scale (SWEMWBS) has not been examined in Turkish adolescents. Therefore, this study aims to adapt the 7-item Warwick Edinburgh Mental Well-Being Scale to Turkish and examine the relationships between loneliness, emotional flexibility, resilience, and mental well-being. The data were collected by convenience sampling method from 820 adolescents aged 14-18 from 73 city of Turkey. During the adaptation process of SWEMWBS, confirmatory factor analysis, concurrent validity, and reliability analysis were performed. The findings confirmed the one dimensionality of the 7-item scale on the Turkish adolescent sample. In addition, a significant positive relationship was found between mental well-being and emotional flexibility and resilience. However, there was a significant negative correlation between mental well-being and loneliness. The results showed that the Turkish version of SWEMWBS had strong psychometric properties in adolescents.

The paper is devoted to the description of the methodology and research by design carried out to identify solutions enhancing the functional flexibility of a high-rise building located in Warsaw at. Grzybowska Street. The work presents the theoretical background as well as the conducted research and methodology. The scope of solutions related to functional flexibility concerned the interchangeability of service functions in the podium part of the building, changes in the use of the parking lot, and the provision of the means of changes in the arrangement of types and variants of types of apartments on the apartments levels. The investigation was carried out in the pre-design and design phases. Objectives and criteria of solutions were defined, and research works were carried out through iterations and checking in terms of the cost-effectiveness . The adopted solutions consist in designing the optimal hard portion of the building – the core, the structural system, the arrangement of zones and installation rooms, and the use of structural and spatial over-designed systems. An optimal facade module has been developed. The research aims to introduce the design practice to the issue of flexibility, which is nowadays important for economic and environmental reasons.

The article concerns modern, flexible adhesive joints, which might be used in timber construction. The article discusses the test results carried out for timber elements joints using polymeric adhesives produced by Sika®. The scope of the tests includes the analysis of strength criteria, tests of polymer adhesion to the timber with a pull-off method, tests of polymer layer shearing between timber elements as well as examination of bending of timber elements joined with polymer. The conclusions indicate the types of these polymers which are recommended for the creation of polymeric joints of timber-polymeric type in timber constructions.

In the present study, we analyse the influence of goal maintenance and goal change on the efficiency of executive control. Although there is empirical evidence on the impact of goal maintenance and task-switching on executive control, little is known about the consequences of changing between processing goals (e.g., speed or accuracy goals). We assessed the influence of changing between speed and accuracy goals while performing a task-switching procedure that requires social categorization. Experiment 1 included frequent goal changes, whereas Experiment 2 included one goal change across the experimental session. The results showed that both goals influence general performance and flexibility. A comparison between experiments suggested that frequent goal change (Experiment 1) resulted in worse performance and lower flexibility overall, compared to sequential goal change (Experiment 2). Frequent goal change was also associated with increased difficulties in pursuing the accuracy goal. The implications regarding the role of goal maintenance and goal change on executive control are discussed, as well as new research possibilities.

The article presents the results of numerical and analytical investigations of the influence of raw liquid natural gas (LNG) composition on parameters characterizing the combustion process. The high content of higher hydrocarbons influences the thermodynamic combustion process described with parameters like the adiabatic flame temperature, laminar flame speed and ignition delay time. A numerical study of the impact of LNG fuels on emission characteristics using the Cantera code has been performed. Results have shown that the change of grid natural gas to some types of liquid natural gas can result in an incomplete combustion process and an increase of emission of toxic compounds such as carbon monoxide and unburned hydrocarbons. For all investigated fuels the laminar flame speed rises by about 10% compared to natural gas, while the adiabatic flame temperature is nearly the same. The ignition delay time is decreased with an increase of ethane share in the fuel. The analysis of chemical pathways has shown that hydrogen cyanide and hydrogen formation is present, particularly in the high temperature combustion regimes, which results in an increase of nitric oxide molar fraction in flue gases by even 10% compared to natural gas. To summarize, for some applications, liquid natural gases cannot be directly used as interchangeable fuels in an industry sector, even if they meet the legal requirements.

This paper presents a study of the hybrid electro-discharge mechanical machining BEDMM (Brush Electro-Discharge Mechanical Machining) with the application of a rotary disk brush as a working electrode. The discussed method enables not only an effective machining with a material removal rate of up to 300 mm3/min but also finishing (with the obtained roughness of Ra < 0.5 μm) of the surfaces of complex-shaped alloys with poor machinability. The analysis of the factors involved in the machining process indicates that its efficiency is determined by electrodischarge. The use of flexible working electrodes makes it possible to apply simple technological instrumentation and results in the simplicity of the process automation. The aim of the study was to obtain quantitative relationships between the parameters of brush electro discharge mechanical machining (BEDMM) and its effects. The presented experimental research results define the effect of the process input parameters on the performance and roughness of machined surfaces obtained for manganese cast steel.

The problem of the proper functioning of Park-and-Ride facilities seems to be of key importance for ensuring appropriate transport in cities in which the intensity of road traffic is systematically increasing, together with the increase of environmental pollution (air pollution, noise etc.). The attractiveness of a car park of this kind seems obvious – instead of a burdensome journey in one’s own car, one changes the vehicle to fast municipal public transport or another means of transport (a bike, a scooter), or reaches the destination on foot. This results in benefits – above all in terms of comfort (shortening the time of the journey), health advantages etc. As has been proven by experiments, facilities of this kind are an expensive investment, the location of which (e.g. stand-alone) does not always ensure full utilization. The concept presented in the article assumes the possibility of a gradual extension of the multistorey car park following the increase of the demand. The article attempted to demonstrate that one of the sources of increasing attractiveness is the appropriate location (guaranteeing easy commute to the car park), the possibilities to continue the journey in an attractive way, then increasing the attractiveness through the possibility to use various services (shopping, the gym, the swimming pool, cinema, restaurants) and thirdly: the plan of launching the car park and its utilization in the life cycle should ensure the possibility of flexible reacting to changes of the demand (the experiences of the ongoing pandemic indicate that there is no guarantee of ensuring systematic demand increase). An element which also seems significant is the limitation of costs in the initial stage of investments of this kind with the possibility of gradual extension following the change of user habits.

In this paper, existing knowledge on the behaviour of soil-steel composite structures (SSCSs) has been reviewed. In particular, the response of buried corrugated steel plates (CSPs) to static, semistatic, and dynamic loads has been covered. Furthermore, the performance of SSCS under extreme loading, i.e., loading until failure, has been studied. To investigate the behaviour of the type of composite structures considered, numerous full-scale tests and numerical simulations have been conducted for both arched and box shapes of the shell. In addition, researchers have examined different span lengths and cover depths. Furthermore, to enhance the load-bearing capacity of the composite structures, various stiffening elements have been applied and tested. The reviewshows that the mechanical features of SSCSs are mainly based on the interaction of the shell with the soil backfill. The structures, as a composite system, become appropriately stiff when completely backfilled. For this reason, the construction phase corresponds to the highest values of shell displacement and stress. Moreover, the method of laying and compacting the backfill, as well as the thickness of the cover, has a significant impact on the behaviour of the structure at the stage of operation in both the quantitative and qualitative sense. Finally, a limited number of studies are conducted on the ultimate bearing capacity of large-span SSCS and various reinforcing methods. Considerably more works will need to be done on this topic. It applies to both full scale tests and numerical analysis.

Many variants of thin film technology are nowadays part of the photovoltaic market. The most popular are amorphous silicon, CIS (Copper Indium Selenide)/CIGS (Copper Indium Gallium Selenide)/CIGSS (Copper Indium Gallium Sulphur Selenide), and CdS/CdTe (Cadmium Sulphide/Cadmium-Telluride) cells. All mentioned types allow potentially for a flexible cell structure. Most emitter contacts are currently based on TCOs (Transparent Conductive Oxides), however, wider approach with alternative carbon nanoforms, silver nanolayers and polymer materials, called TCLs (Transparent Conductive Layers) are also in use. Authors decided to investigate influence of mechanical stresses on physical and electrical behaviour of these layers. Consequently, the aim of work is to determine the level and possible mechanisms of flexible a-Si cell parameters degradation due to a deterioration of transparent contact properties.

The paper describes a research on assessing the quality of edges resulting from the interaction of laser pulses with a material of rigid and flexible printed circuits. A modern Nd:YVO4 crystal diode-pumped solid-state laser generating a 532 nm wavelength radiation with a nanosecond pulse time was used for the research. Influence of laser parameters such as beam power and pulse repetition frequency on a heat affected zone and carbonization was investigated. Quality and morphology of laser-cut substrates were analyzed by optical microscopy. High quality laser cutting of printed circuit board substrates was obtained without delamination and surface damage, with a minimal carbonization and heat affected zone. The developed process was implemented on the printed circuit assembly line.

This article takes up the matter of contemporary threats to cities and urbanity, setting the problems cities face today against the background of the two categories of the resilient city and the city developing sustainably. The author describes and presents the evolution of the sustainable development concept as such, as well as the generational change in priorities that has taken place where the development of urbanised areas is concerned, given the way the concept has undergone a certain devaluation, in the light of its failure to achieve fulfi lment. The challenges cities face today require multi-faceted activity, in respect of increased inclusivity, robustness and resilience, and flexibility. This leaves today’s idea of the resilient city embracing old elements of the sustainable city, but also augmenting them in various ways.

In the paper approximate controllability of second order infinite dimensional system with damping is considered. Applying linear operators in Hilbert spaces general mathematical model of second order dynamical systems with damping is presented. Next, using functional analysis methods and concepts, specially spectral methods and theory of unbounded linear operators, necessary and sufficient conditions for approximate controllability are formulated and proved. General result may be used in approximate controllability verification of second order dynamical system using known conditions for approximate controllability of first order system. As illustrative example using Green function approach approximate controllability of distributed dynamical system is also discussed.

The functioning of a person affected with a chronic illness within a family is a complex and many-sided issue.

As family members form a system reflecting a network of mutual relations, one of the members’ illness will affect all those interacting with him / her emotionally. Keeping high-quality marital relations also becomes extremely difficult. The research covered 108 families (216 person) divided into three groups.We used an interview, the FACES IV questionnaire based on the Circumplex Model by David H. Olson and Dyadic Adjustment Scale (DAS) developed by Spanier.

Presence of multiple sclerosis (MS) in the family turned out to impact its functioning. The present research has found that the spouses’ gender of key importance for the family. Those families in which the woman was ill were characterized by excessive rigidity. On the other hand, where the multiple sclerosis sufferer was male, the system was overly chaotic.

Based on the research, it is highly probable that the majority of families with multiple sclerosis sufferers adjust relatively well to the disease. It can be supposed that the majority of multiple sclerosis affected families have developed an adaptive mechanism that benefits the patient. Supposedly, successful coping with disease may be determined by the caregiver's gender. This does not mean, however, that such families are free from problems. The difficulties relate primarily to communication, excessive autocracy, developing their individuality and autonomy. Therapeutic support for the patient and his / her family should therefore be a vital component of the treatment process.

ZnS-based mechanoluminescent film has been widely used in the fields of stress visualization and stress sensing, due to its high brightness and repeatable stable luminescent characteristics. To evaluate the flexibleelastic deformation performance of ZnS-based mechanoluminescent film, both visual inspection and digital image correlation (DIC) are, respectively, employed for measuring the ZnS-based mechanoluminescent film. ZnS:Cu ²⁺ mechanoluminescent powders are first mixed with polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) matrix to produce ZnS:Cu ²⁺–PDMS mechanoluminescent film. Then, two measurement experiments are, respectively, conducted to investigate the mechanical response and the flexible-elastic deformation performance of the prepared ZnS:Cu2+–PDMS mechanoluminescent film. On one hand, the mechanical response performance of the ZnS:Cu ²⁺–PDMS mechanoluminescent film is validated by visual monitoring of composite concrete fracture processes. On the other hand, the prepared ZnS:Cu ²⁺–PDMS mechanoluminescent film is also measured by DIC to obtain its full-field deformations and strains information. The flexible-elastic deformation performance of the ZnS:Cu ²⁺–PDMS mechanoluminescent film is well demonstrated by the DIC measured results.

This paper models the downlink Fifth Generation (5G) network that supports a flexible frame structure and a shorter Round-Trip Time (RTT) for Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request (HARQ). Moreover, the design of the renowned Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA) packet scheduling algorithms is revised to allow these algorithms to support packet scheduling in the downlink 5G. Simulation results demonstrate that the Proportional Fair provides a comparable performance to the delay–aware Maximum-Largest Weighted Delay First for simultaneously providing the desired transmission reliability of the Guaranteed Bit Rate (GBR) and Non-Guaranteed Bit Rate (Non- GBR) healthcare contents whilst maximizing the downlink 5G performance.

To achieve acceptable dynamical behavior for large rotating machines operating at subcritical speeds, the balancing quality check at the planned service speed in the installation location is often demanded for machines such as turbo-generators or high-speed machines. While most studies investigate the balancing quality at critical speeds, only a few studies have investigated this aspect using numerical methods at operational speed. This study proposes a novel, model-based method for inversely estimating initial residual unbalance in one and two planes after initial grade balancing for large flexible rotors operating at the service speeds. The method utilizes vibration measurements from two planes in any single direction, combined with a finite element model of the rotor to inversely determine the residual unbalance in one and two planes. This method can be practically used to determine the initial and residual unbalance after the balancing process, and further it can be used for condition-based monitoring of the unbalance state of the rotor.

Management processes in an organization involve decision-making based on many criteria (MCDM), and in this process ranking of variables plays a vital role. This paper presents the analysis of key business issues of an Indian automotive organization using an efficient interpretive ranking (eIRP) approach. This paper integrates the Situation-Actor-Process (SAP) and Learning-Action-Performance (LAP) framework of the organization with eIRP. It evaluates the ranking of actions to be carried out in an organization with respect to performance parameters. The study highlights the area where the organization should focus on achieving desired business excellence. From the analysis, it is revealed that the top-ranked suggested action for the organization is the adoption of energy policy as a core business policy followed by technology management, maintenance management, and the use of information technology for cost management. This case study is one of the few that uses the SAP-LAP framework for ranking the actors and actions of the organization using the eIRP approach, to make MCDM an easy task.

In mid-1992, Japanese consultant Yamada Hitoshi was tasked with modifying the production systems of Japanese companies as the existing configurations at manufacturing plants no longer satisfied unstable demands. He made improvements to the overall production system by dividing the long assembly lines into several short ones called cells or seru. Although of the advantages, it is still unclear about how to manage this new production system, and what variables really promoted the desired benefits. We identify in total 39 articles from 2004– 2020 about the progress of the seru production system, and we observe some possibilities to improve the effectiveness of this type of the production system. The first is the possibility of manufacturing the product in flexible sequence, in which the operations are independent among them. We show through the developed example that the makespan may be different. We noted when converting the in-line production system to one pure seru, the makespan tend to increase. Nevertheless, when analyzing the effectiveness of serus working concomitantly considering splitting the same lot, makespan and the cost may be reduced. And finally, when converting to one of pure serus, the performance may be similar to that obtained when serus working concomitantly.

One of the common defects of flexible road pavement is the loss of bonding between two layers of asphalt concrete: the base course and the binder course. The occurrence of this phenomenon has a major impact on the observed state of deflection and deformation of the pavement. This effect affects the results of non-destructive tests which are used to calculate material parameters and then are used in the diagnostics of the pavement condition or design of structural strengthening. This paper discusses the influence of the various level of bonding on the result of backcalculation and the obtained elastic moduli. For the obtained values of moduli, calculations of key deformations and pavement durability were performed. Improper assumptions about the interaction between the layers affects the observed results. Additionally paper discusses the effect of pavement displacement discontinuity on the observed deflection basin and compares the results with those for a model with continuity. Numerical calculations were carried out using Simulia Abaqus software, the computational model was verified using analytical solution.

The aim of the article is indicating the advantages of utilizing the synergy obtained by introducing two management methods: Lean Construction and Agile Management using the example of the process of deliveries of concrete mix in road construction. Despite the seemingly contradictory assumptions (Lean Management aims at limiting wastefulness and maximizing the value for the customer and agile management serves for creating the possibility for fast, effective response to non-expected changes thanks to the adopted strategy of flexibility, which usually requires engaging additional resources), both management methods deliver the effect of increasing the effectiveness of the machine laying the pavement. Using a “spaghetti diagram” (one of the tools of Lean Management) led to limiting the time losses during loading and unloading the concrete mix destined for constructing highway pavement. On the other hand, the tactic of technological flexibility in the form of a modification of the concrete mix allowed for broadening the time frame for the delivery of concrete to the construction site to as much as two hours. Moreover, applying the real time delivery management system (in accordance with the assumptions of Construction 4.0) created the possibilities for ensuring quick reacting to the changing conditions of delivery and laying the concrete mix in the pavement and ensuring the appropriate functioning of the machine laying the pavement. The presented examples indicated the advantages of the suggested concept in reference to the traditional solution.