No abstract

Purpose -The purpose of this paper is to conceptualise and develop various phases of agile product development cycle (PDC) for a manufacturing organization. Design/methodology/approach -The literature on agile manufacturing (AM) has been reviewed. Agile PDC has been conceptualised and the implementation study has been conducted in a rotary switches manufacturing organisation. The various phases of agile PDC have been performed and the inferences have been derived. Findings -The outcome of this research indicated the power of agile PDC as an enabler of agility in contemporary manufacturing organisations.Research limitations/implications -The developed PDC has been test implemented in a single manufacturing organization. However, the model could be extended to several organisations. Practical implications -The various phases of agile PDC have been systematically explored and the practical inferences have been derived. Originality/value -The conceptualisation and development of various phases of agile PDC is an original contribution of the authors.

The fatigue life and fracture mechanism of friction stir spot welded tensionshear joints using 590-MPa class steel as a base material under constantamplitude conditions were investigated with focus on welding dimension variations caused by tool wear. The fatigue limit of the friction stir spot welding (FSSW) joint used for this study is significantly low compared with the static tensile strength of the joint itself. It was clarified that the FSSW joint in this study exhibited two different failure morphologies regardless of the applied load level: base metal fracture and weld area fracture. Although the welding state changes due to the tool wear phenomenon that produce two types of fracture modes in relation to the welding rip diameter, they have no effect on the fatigue strength, regardless of the applied load.

No abstract