Introduction to

Reliability testing

Testing for reliability and durability

Test to cause failures

Not test to demonstrate successful
achievement
Use concepts of load and strength to
determine test conditions
Understanding of physics of failure
Understanding of relationship between stress
and life

1
Reliability tests during design
Primary purpose of reliability tests are to:
– To identify stress levels necessary to cause
failure (breaking point stress)
• To design ALT/HALT
– Identify design changes to ensure product
reliability

What stress limits?

Increase stress to cause failures but limit
by:
– Technological limits
– Test capability
Use unrepresentative stresses because:
– Future causes of failure uncertain
– Probabilities to failure uncertain
– Time spent on testing expensive
– Finding causes of failure during development
less expensive in the long run

2
Types of Accelerated Life Test (ALT)
High Usage Rate.

– run the product faster than normal,

– increase the products duty cycle.

– Care should be taken that the increased

usage rate does not increase the other
stresses on the product too much, so that
the failure mechanism produced are the
same as those seen under normal usage
rates.

Types of Accelerated Test

Over-stress testing
– This consists of running a product at a higher than
normal level of some accelerating stress or
stresses to shorten product life or to degrade
product performance factor.

– Typical accelerating stresses are temperature,

voltage, mechanical load, thermal cycling,
humidity and vibration.

– Over-stress testing is the most common form of

accelerated testing.

3
Constant stress

The most common form

Each specimen is run at a constant stress level.
Mimics the stresses seen in actual use in many
cases and can be simple.
The advantages are
– A constant stress level is easy to maintain
– Models for acceleration are well developed
and tested.

Step stress tests

Progressively increasing stresses are applied to the
same sample for constant time intervals while the
sample does not fail.
The fundamental assumption in this kind of test is
that the failure probability at each level is
independent of previous levels, regardless of
previous history.
Generate data on the product reliability more
quickly, but with less precision.
The step stress test are normally carried out as
comparison tests.

4
Highly Accelerated Life Testing (HALT)

Devised by Gregg Hobbs in US

Combined Step Stress testing
Environmental test chamber for combined
stress test
Used as part of Reliability Enhancement
Testing programme
Promotes failures in short time

HALT – stresses delivered in an ordered

sequence
Thermal Step Stress
– Cold Step Stress
– Hot Step Stress
Rapid Thermal Transition Cycling
Vibration Step Stress
Combined Environment
– Rapid Thermal Transition Cycling and
– Vibration Step Stress
At each level of applied stress, functional testing is
performed on the product sample to evaluate its
operation.

5
HALT process
When a failure occurs
– failure mode and stress level is recorded,
– failure location is isolated,
– root cause of the failure determined.
Temporary fix is implemented and HALT testing is continued.
As failure modes are found and eliminated, limits are pushed
further out
maximizing margins and increasing the product’s life and
reliability.
FRACAS
Improve design

FRACAS
Failure reporting and corrective action
system
Closed-loop system for identifying,
assessing, and correcting failure-related
problems in a timely manner
Start of project
Used by all personnel
Review team

6
Basic Steps of FRACAS

Record incidents
Perform Analysis
Identify necessary corrective action
Verify the corrective action
Implement corrective action
Close

Tests used prior to shipment to the

customer

Environmental Stress Screening – ESS

HASS
Demonstration testing

7
Environmental stress screening
(ESS)
– This involves accelerated testing of products
under a combination of random vibration and
thermal cycling and shock - shake and bake.
– It has two major purposes,
• as an elephant test during development
• as an accelerated burn in to improve reliability.
– It is widely used for military, industrial and
consumer electronics.
– HASS

Highly Accelerated Stress Screen (HASS)

accelerated reliability screen that can reveal

latent flaws not detected by ESS or burn-in
uses stresses beyond specification, but within
the capability of the design as determined by the
HALT
combines variable thermal and simultaneous
vibration stresses, in conjunction with product
specific stresses

8
Conclusion/Summary
Accelerated life test
– Test to cause failure
– High usage or increased stress levels
– Constant stress or step stress
Highly accelerated Life Test (HALT)
– combined step stress
ESS and HASS