Accelerated Reliability Growth Testing and Data Analysis Method

Traditionally, a reliability growth test was performed at the levels of various operational and environmental stresses, often at a level equal to that expected in use. Other than formal failure modes and effects analysis, reliability growth tests were often the only practical means for identification and mitigation of failure modes of a newly designed product.With the present high reliability requirements and long product useful life, the length of reliability growth tests may become cost and schedule prohibitive; therefore, accelerated testing is taking the place of prior testing at the use levels. This practice, however, does not address the dilemma of possibly unrealistically skewed test results highly dependent on the sequence of individually applied stresses as, unfortunately, it is often difficult to impossible to apply all of the environmental and operational stresses simultaneously. An example of this problem would be a case where the majority of failure modes in a product are a result of or are r...