IND832/MEC832 – Reliability & Decision Analysis

Lab #2: Life Testing & Probability Plotting

Date-Time Section Groups
22-May (Wed) 4 pm – 6 pm IND832-011 & MEC832-011 All
23-May (Thu) 4 pm – 6 pm IND832-021 & MEC832-021 All
Lab report deadline: one week later (30-May), 11:59 am. Please submit your report electronically in the
appropriate drop-box on D2L. You can reach that drop-box from the main tab (Assessment - Assignments -
Lab #2)
Introduction
Life testing is used to determine the reliability of manufactured items. The purpose of this lab is to perform
reliability testing for a set of light bulbs. A board with a set of numbered light bulbs will be used. Students will
record the time when bulbs fail. The objective will be to determine the four reliability related functions f(t),
F(t), R(t), and h(t) for the light bulbs based on the observations of the test and to calculate the mean time to
fail as well as the risk of failures.

Procedure

1) A board with a set of numbered light bulbs will be used

2) Using a stopwatch, reset the time to 0
3) Press the “ON” switch and start the stopwatch simultaneously
4) Note any bulbs that do not turn on at the beginning
5) Observe the board and record the time (and number) when a light bulb turns off
6) At the end of the experiment, note, if any, bulbs that are still on

Lab Report Requirements

1) Determine the four reliability related functions f(t), F(t), R(t) and h(t) for the light bulbs using Non-
Parametric Data Analysis (Use Bloom) and provide the graph for F(t). Using the graph, determine the
probability the bulb will fail by 5 minutes. (5 marks)
2) Determine whether the failure times for the bulb fit an exponential distribution. Use Blom’s method
for calculating F(t) and R(t). Assuming it does fit, determine the parameter 𝜆 using your plot. Using the
fitted distribution, calculate the MTTF for a bulb as well as the probability that the bulb will last more
than 4 mins. (9 marks)

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IND832/MEC832 – Reliability & Decision Analysis

3) Determine whether the failure times for the bulb fit a 2-parameter Weibull distribution. Use mean
rank method for calculating F(t) and R(t). Assuming it does fit, determine the parameters 𝛽 and 𝛾 using
your plot. Calculate the MTTF for a bulb. Given a bulb has lasted 3 minutes, what is the probability that
bulb will fail in the next 30 seconds? (13 marks)
4) Based on your analysis in 2 and 3 what would you say is the distribution that best fits the bulb? Why?
(3 marks)

❖ Please submit one lab report for your group answering questions 1 – 4 above. Use a lab report cover
page. You do not need to provide a detail write up such as method, conclusion, etc.