Impact Strength

World Business Council for Sustainable Development defines Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) as “The continuing commitment by business to behave ethically and contribute to economic development while improving the quality of life of the workforce and their families as well as of the local community and society at large.” Nearly all leading corporate in India are involved in CSR programmes in areas like education, health, livelihood creation, skill development, and empowerment of weaker sections of the society. In recent years, changing market scenario, globalization, ethical consumerism all are adding heat to the CSR concept. Making profit and is the primary goal of all organizations; thus the companies target to increase their sales every year. In this CSR driven business scenario, it becomes vital to analyse the effect of CSR investments on the sales of the company. This paper gives an theoretical overview of the legal framework of CSR in India, discusses the trends of CSR in India that how CSR once considered as charity by a company has now transformed as a responsibility of the company towards society. This paper also analyzes whether there is any significant relationship between CSR investment and sales and finally, the possible impact of CSR investments on the sales of few companies selected at random for 3 years 2012 to 2015.

Plastic materials have a variety of chemical and mechanical properties that will be useful for a wide variety of applications. However, plastic waste creates pollution and poses a great threat due to the problem of non-degradability affecting ecological environments. Thermoset polymers, which are used extensively in the polymer industry today, have recycling problems. This situation creates serious environmental problems. The most important feature of thermoplastic materials is that they can be recycled. The use of thermoplastic polymers creates significant advantages in recycling and environmental issues. The rapid evolution in additive manufacturing provides a new path to the circular economy using recycling. Thermoplastic or thermoset materials can be processed in additive manufacturing. Additive Manufacturing Methods (AM) are used today in different industries to produce prototypes and even final products. The polymer material is used in 51% of the parts produced with AM. The Fused Filament Fabrication (FFF) method is the most popular method preferred for shaping polymers with AM. The FFF method is a method of extruding a spool of thermoplastic filament through a heated nozzle and melting the material. Also, FFF is known to have low cost and high printing speeds compared to other AM techniques. PLA material, which is a completely bio-based thermoplastic polymer with many desirable properties, including easy processing ability, strength, hardness, and biodegradability, is widely used in material processing by the FFF method. In this study, the PLA matrix was reinforced with natural fibers to increase the mechanical properties and contribute to recycling. Bio-composite compounds with 15% wood fiber reinforced PLA matrix by weight were prepared. Specimens produced by bio composite materials production were carried out using the FFF method and injection molding methods. Thermal analysis of the prepared compounds, filaments, and produced specimens was carried out. The tensile strength properties of the specimens produced by FFF and the injection molding method were compared. In addition, the bio-composite materials produced were examined under scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Surface interactions and homogeneous fiber distribution between matrix and fiber were investigated.

Multifunctional polyurethane foams reinforced with multiwalled carbon nanotubes and silica nanoparticles enhanced specific properties. We studied the effects of nanoparticle addition into polyurethane on mechanical properties and thermal stability by means of tensile, Charpy impact, hardness tests, and thermogravimetric analysis. Nanoparticles added to polyurethane are multiwalled carbon nanotubes, two types of silica nanoparticles, and multiwalled carbon nanotube/spherical silica as hybrid filler. Hybrid polyurethane/spherical silica/multiwalled carbon nanotube nanocomposite with the constant overall content of 0.75 wt% showed higher tensile strength, hardness, and thermal stability than either of nanoparticles at this content, which approves a synergistic effect between multiwalled carbon nanotubes and silica nanoparticles.

Three-dimensional (3D) woven spacer composites have the advantage of being lightweight and strong for use in various segments of structural engineering and automobiles due to their superior mechanical properties than conventional counterparts. In this investigation, the influence of different cell geometries of 3D woven spacer fabrics, namely rectangular, triangular and trapezoidal with woven cross-links, upon their mechanical behaviours, especially compression energy, was studied through FEM (finite element method). Cell geometries were changed into different heights and widths and evaluated through simulation and experiments. Simulation of the structure was carried out by the Abaqus platform, and validation of the results was done for the rectangular structure. It was found that compression energy increases with an increment in width, while initially, it shows the tendency to increase and subsequently decrease with an increment in height for the rectangular structure. Compression energy increases with an increase in the angle of the triangular structure; however, it shows the opposite trend in the case of the trapezoidal structure. The outcome of the result shows good agreement between simulation and experimentation values of more than 94% accuracy.