Jing-Chzi Hsieh

Online reputation management for improving marketing by using a hybrid MCDM model

Online reputation management (ORM) has been considered as a significant tool of internet marketing. The purpose of this paper is to construct a decision model for evaluating performances and improving professional services of marketing. To investigate the interrelationship and influential weights among criteria, this study uses a hybrid MCDM model including decision-making trial and evaluation laboratory (DEMATEL), DEMATEL-based analytic network process (called DANP). The empirical findings reveal that criteria have self-effect relationships based on DEMATEL technique. According to the network relation map (NRM), the dimension that professional services of marketing should improve first when carrying out ORM is online reputation. In the five criteria for evaluation, distributed reputation systems is the most important criterion impacting ORM, followed by employees and social responsibility.

Improving the food waste composting facilities site selection for sustainable development using a hybrid modified MADM model

With the growth of population and the development of urbanization, waste management has always been a critical global issue. Recently, more and more countries have found that food waste constitutes the majority of municipal waste, if they are disposed of properly, will bring more benefits in sustainable development. Regarding the issue of selecting and improving the location to make the disposal facility towards achieving the aspiration level for sustainable development, since it involves multiple and complicated interaction factors about environment, society, and economy which have to be considered properly in the decision-making process of mutual influence relationship. It is basically a multiple attribute decision making (MADM) issue, a difficult problem which has been obsessing the governments of many countries is widely studied and discussed. This study uses the new hybrid modified MADM model, as follows, first to build an influential network relation map (INRM) via DEMATEL technique, next to confirm the influential weightings via DANP (DEMATEL-based ANP), and then to construct a decision-making model via a hybrid modified VIKOR method to improve and select the location for remaining the best disposal facilities. Finally, an empirical case study is illustrated to demonstrate that the proposed model can be effective and useful. In finding the process of decision making, environmental pollution is the main concern of many people in the area, but actually it is the resistance by the general public that has to be considered with first priority.

Effects of needle punching and hot pressing on mechanical properties of composite geotextiles

This study proposes to make geotextiles from recycled materials. Polyester fibers, recycled polyester fibers, and low melting point polyester fibers are blended and needle punched to make the polyester fabrics, the mechanical properties of which are then evaluated to determine the optimal parameters. The polyester nonwoven fabrics are needle punched with various densities. Afterwards, the resulting polyester nonwoven fabrics, glass fiber woven fabrics, and polypropylene selvages are combined, needle punched, and hot pressed to form geotextiles, the properties of which are tested by tensile strength, tearing strength, burst strength, puncture strength, and water resistance tests. The test results show that polyester fabrics containing 50 wt% of polyester fibers have the optimal mechanical properties. Furthermore, needle punching at 90 needles/cm2 results in a greatest increase in mechanical properties of the polyester nonwoven fabrics. The tensile strength, tearing strength, and water resistance of the geotextiles increase as a result of hot pressing, and the bursting strength and puncture resistance are primarily associated with the needle punching densities. This study successfully creates composite geotextiles with reinforced mechanical properties by needle punching and hot pressing recycled polyester fabrics and polypropylene selvages.

Manufacturing and Stab-Resisting Properties of Compound Fabric Reinforced Using Recycled Nonwoven Selvages

Nowadays, the development of science and technology are rapidly, relatively, wastes brought more and more problems. Because the waste produced by the textile production accounts for 5% of total rubbish quantity, so how to reduce the pollution of the selvage wastes and how to effective treatment waste is the present primary task in the course of developing. This research is mainly to use two layers of the 7.0d polyester (PET) nonwoven as the base cloth of the upper strata and lower strata, and the selvage wastes of the PP are layered between them. The polyester nonwoven and selvage wastes combine by needle punching and thermal bonding than the nonwoven/ selvage wastes compound fabrics are formed. By this production, we can reduce waste quantity of selvage to achieve the environmental protection purpose, and increase the strength of the compound fabric. The results show when the weight of base cloth is 150 g/m2, the content of selvage waste in the compound fabric is 10%, temperature of thermal bonding is 220 °C, the liner velocity of the thermal compress roll is 0.5 m/min and the density of needle punching is 400 needles/cm2, the compound fabric has best mechanical properties. The stab resistance and the application of the compound fabric in geotextile are evaluated by test according to ASTM D4632 and ASTM D4533 standard.

Applications of geotextiles made of PET-filament-based nonwoven fabrics

Climate change has been occuring in recent years. The extraordinary changes lead to high temperatures, floods, and typhoons that become a significant threat to people’s lives and property. Therefore, engineering methods have become important, as they decrease the level of people’s loss caused by natural disasters. Synthetic fibers have been commonly used in geotechnical engineering field since their invention, and are now widely available. Whether geotextiles are made using fabrics or nonwoven fabrics, water permeability and appropriate strength are their indispensable properties in reinforcement, separation, filtration, drainage, and protection. In this study, polyester (PET) filaments and nonwoven fabrics are combined using hot pressing, during which different weight amounts of filament are used. The composites are tested for delamination strength, tensile strength, tear strength, burst strength, and puncture strength to characterize the filament-based geotextiles. The experimental results show that a high needle punching depth has a negative influence on the strengths of geotextiles. Moreover, the geotextiles exhibit the optimal tensile and tearing strength when they are hot pressed at 170 °C, and optimal burst strength and puncture strength when they are hot pressed at 180 °C.

Using nonwoven fabrics as culture mediums for extensive green roofs: physical properties and cooling effect

Based on the requirements of extensive green roofs, ploylactide (PLA) fibers, cotton fibers, polyester (PET), and low-melting-point LMPET fibers are combined and produced culture mediums for Crassulaceae plants. The resulting mediums are tested for their physical properties and found to be light weight, which is a required condition for plant growth. These features contribute to efficient construction and maintenance. In addition, the optimal cooling effect of the culture mediums is 9.6 °C, which significantly reduces the amount of heat that invades indoor spaces. The decrease in the amount of heat indoors results in a lower demand for air conditioning so as to achieve energy conservation. The results derived from this study help in the promotion of green roofs, thereby slowing down the urban heat island effect and global warming.

Statistical analyses for tensile properties of nonwoven geotextiles at different ambient environmental temperatures

Geotextiles primarily provide reinforcement, and their tensile properties can resist stresses and prevent soil structure deformation. Nonwoven geotextiles are also commonly used in railways, roads, soil and water conservation, and therefore their applications are subjected to climatic environments and geographical environments where the geotextiles are used. Therefore, this study recycles and reclaims Kevlar selvages that are then incorporated with polyester fibers and low-melting-point polyester fibers in order to form nonwoven geotextiles. The tensile properties of the geotextiles in relation to various ambient environmental temperatures are examined with the test temperatures being set as 25℃ (control group), 50, 60, 70, and 80℃. Statistical analyses are performed to examine the effects of fiber blending ratios, needle punching depth, and thermal treatments on the tensile properties of the nonwoven geotextiles. The test results indicate that nonthermally treated nonwoven geotextiles have a tensile strength that is significantly increased when the ambient temperature is increased. In contrast, according to the insignificant differences obtained from statistical analyses, the tensile strength of thermally treated samples is independent of the ambient temperatures, indicating that thermal treatment allows for heat setting of the geotextiles. In particular, the thermally treated polyester/low-melting-point polyester/Kevlar nonwoven geotextiles have the maximum tensile strength when they are composed of a blending ratio of 60/20/20 wt% and a needle punching depth of 0.5 cm.

Composite geotextile made with a reinforcing method using friction to unwind filament tows: Manufacturing techniques and property evaluations

Engineering design and academic research have been paying more attention to low impact development (LID), one prime development of which is geotextiles. This study uses friction to unwind filament tows for the production of composite geotextiles, meeting the demands of engineering and strengthened geotextiles. The mechanical and physical properties of the composite geotextiles are evaluated in terms of the filament content and needle punching depth. The test results prove that filament-reinforcement can significantly improve mechanical properties: tensile strength and tearing strength of the composite geotextiles are 2.3 and 7 times, respectively, those of commercially available geotextiles. The physical properties of the geotextiles also meet the standards, suggesting that the reinforcing method, which requires simple equipment to unwind the filament tows, can mechanically improve geotextiles and is suitable for mass production. The method creates multi-functional composite geotextiles and embodies the principles of LID technology. The composite geotextiles with a diversity of applications are helpful with environmental protection and sustainable development.

The Strategic Exercise of Options Using Government Subsidies: An Analysis of Production Subsidies for the Ground Source Heat Pump

This study utilizes consolidation investment theory to incorporate with business strategies and government subsidy to develop a strategic exercise of options model. This empirical investigation examines the ground source heat pump (GSHP) government subsidy program, which is part of Chinas 12th Five Year Plan. The developed model is applied to explain the behaviours of business investment with regard to strategic investment timing, option values, and the influence of government subsidies in duopolistic real-world investment decisions. The results indicate that subsidy policy can reduce the differences of investment timing among GSHP investors and has clearly evidenced the positive benefit–cost ratio of government subsidy, which facilitates Chinas GSHP industry development.

Geo-textiles for Side Slope Protection: Preparation and Characteristics

The vegetation blanket is the most common choice for soil and water preservation. This is a feasible method that protects the land and environment according to basic agriculture and engineering theories. This study manufactured eco-friendly nonwoven vegetation blankets by using cotton fibers, far-infrared fibers, PLA fibers, and low melting-point fibers at a 1:1:7:1 ratio. This ratio yielded from the pilot study provides the resulting vegetation blankets’ optimum air permeability and water absorption. This study further finds that a needle-punching density of 30 needles/cm2 allows fibers to lie in a loose structure, and therefore yielding the optimum air permeability and water absorption. In plant growth evaluation, for nonwoven vegetation blankets that contain 50 wt% far-infrared fibers, the plant growth length is 1.3 times greater than that of blankets with 10 wt% far-infrared fibers. This result proves that far-infrared fibers have usually been applied to plant growth.