A Nonparametric Approach to Accelerated Life Testing

Abstract A nonparametric model of acceleration is introduced. Based on this model, a procedure is suggested for estimating the nonaccelerated life distribution from accelerated observations. Unlike previous nonparametric estimation procedures, our method does not require nonaccelerated observations. A relationship between the accelerated and the nonaccelerated distributions is assumed but there is variety in that choice. A comparison of our method with the power rule method under the assumption of exponential lifetimes reveals that in some instances our method is asymptotically equivalent to the maximum likelihood method for estimating the nonaccelerated mean lifetime. Simulation for small sample sizes completes the comparison.