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The purpose of this study is to evaluate how Qatar Airways’ sponsorship of FC Barcelona affects Qatar’s sports diplomacy and brand awareness. It focuses on the sponsorship’s demand strategy and takes into account the opinions and attitudes of Spanish nationals toward Qatar and Qatar Airways.

To assess this, a survey of 434 Spanish nationals from 17 different regions from four zones (North, South, Center, and East) in Spain between November 3, 2022 and November 21, 2022 was conducted using a strata sampling method.

We argue that Qatar Airways’ sponsorship of FC Barcelona serves to improve Qatar’s recognition and national reputation in Spain. We also found that there is a need for consistent sponsorship and marketing efforts in sports diplomacy to better fulfill public diplomacy aims. Overall, this paper concludes that Qatar Airways’ sponsorship of FC Barcelona positively contributes to the country’s sports diplomacy despite significant challenges.

The major contribution of this study to the literature is the discussion of the role of sports sponsorships in the recognition of the sponsor, which was assessed through conducting a quantitative analysis of public opinion in the sponsored team’s host country.

Inconel 718 (IN718) is a high-performance nickel-based superalloy with high oxidation-corrosion-temperature resistance, high strength (tensile, fatigue, creep and rupture), durability, toughness, hardness and dimensional stability, which is difficult to machine with traditional fabrication methods. To overcome these difficulties, wire electrical discharge machining (WEDM), one of the modern manufacturing methods, is used.

Main performance criteria in WEDM; material removal rate (MRR), cutting speed, surface roughness, cutting width (kerf) and wire wear rate. In this study, the effect of processing parameters on kerf and MRR because of processing IN718 in WEDM was investigated. Machining parameters, voltage, wire feed rate and dielectric fluid pressure were determined. Deionized water was used as a dielectric fluid and 0.3 mm brass wire was used as wire in the experiments. Gray Relational Analysis (GRA), which is one of the multi-criteria decision-making methods, has been applied for the optimization of the machining parameters in the cutting process with the WEDM. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to determine the effect percentages of the cut-off parameters.

The parameter with the highest effect was determined as tension with a rate of 76.95% for kerf and 91.21% for MRR.

The novel approach uses Taguchi-based GRA optimization as a result of cutting IN718 with WEDM, reducing cost and time consumption.