Reliability Analysis of Electronic Equipment Subjected to Shock and Vibration – A Review

Increasingly modern electronic equipment is expected to provide more functionality whilst still being able to withstand shock and vibration loads. The process of reliability prediction has been hampered by the complicated response and failure characteristics of electronic equipment, with the currently available methods being a compromise between accuracy and cost. A process to quickly and confidently predict the reliability of proposed electronic equipment to dynamic loads would greatly benefit industry. This paper will illustrate the difficulties in predicting electronic equipment reliability, showing why progress has been slow, in addition to the difficulty in making a model that works across a broad range of equipment configurations. The four classes of reliability prediction methods (Handbook, Test data, Field data and Physics of Failure) will be contrasted before addressing the individual methods. It is pertinent to note that although the majority of failures in electronic equipment are due to thermal issues, this review focuses on shock and vibration induced failures. 1. Terminology

[1]  Michael Pecht,et al.  Predicting the reliability of electronic equipment , 1994 .

[2]  Dimitris C. Lagoudas,et al.  Pseudoelastic SMA Spring Elements for Passive Vibration Isolation: Part I – Modeling , 2004 .

[3]  Sidharth,et al.  Local PWB and Component Bowing of an Assembly Subjected to a Bending Moment , 1994 .

[4]  D. R. Frear,et al.  Solder mechanics : a state of the art assessment , 1991 .

[5]  E.A. Elsayed,et al.  Generalized step stress accelerated life model [LED case study] , 2004, Proceedings of 2004 International Conference on the Business of Electronic Product Reliability and Liability (IEEE Cat. No.04EX809).

[6]  R. W. Kotlowitz.  Compliance metrics for surface mount component lead design , 1990, 40th Conference Proceedings on Electronic Components and Technology.

[7]  Ron S. Li.  A Methodology for Fatigue Prediction of Electronic Components Under Random Vibration Load , 2001 .

[8]  T. Jackson,et al.  Development of standard formats for space systems reliability models , 2003, Annual Reliability and Maintainability Symposium, 2003..

[9]  Abhijit Dasgupta,et al.  Estimating the Vibration Fatigue Life of Quad Leaded Surface Mount Components , 1993 .

[10]  Wei-Hsin Liao,et al.  An Empirical Method for Particle Damping Design , 2004 .

[11]  Christoph W. Schwingshackl,et al.  Analysis of enclosures and anti vibration devices for electronic equipment for space applications , 2004 .

[12]  J. B. Bowles,et al.  A survey of reliability-prediction procedures for microelectronic devices , 1992 .

[13]  J. Lesniak,et al.  Mechanical behaviors of 60/40 tin-lead solder lap joints , 1989, Proceedings., 39th Electronic Components Conference.

[14]  Ephraim Suhir,et al.  Response of a Flexible Printed Circuit Board to Periodic Shock Loads Applied to its Support Contour , 1992 .

[15]  E. Jih,et al.  Vibrational fatigue of surface mount solder joints , 1998, ITherm'98. Sixth Intersociety Conference on Thermal and Thermomechanical Phenomena in Electronic Systems (Cat. No.98CH36208).

[16]  Mark P. Kaminskiy,et al.  G-renewal process as a model for statistical warranty claim prediction , 2000, Annual Reliability and Maintainability Symposium. 2000 Proceedings. International Symposium on Product Quality and Integrity (Cat. No.00CH37055).

[17]  Tze Yang Hin,et al.  Development of a dynamic test board for FCBGA solder joint reliability assessment in shock & vibration , 2003, Proceedings of the 5th Electronics Packaging Technology Conference (EPTC 2003).

[18]  Jack A. Jones,et al.  A methodology to assess and select a suitable reliability prediction method for EEE components in space applications , 2002 .

[19]  D. Followell,et al.  Vibration fatigue of surface mount technology (SMT) solder joints , 1995, Annual Reliability and Maintainability Symposium 1995 Proceedings.

[20]  M. Pecht,et al.  Physics-of-failure: an approach to reliable product development , 1995, IEEE 1995 International Integrated Reliability Workshop. Final Report.

[21]  D. S. Steinberg,et al.  Vibration analysis for electronic equipment , 1973 .

[22]  Michael Pecht,et al.  A critique of Mil-Hdbk-217E reliability prediction methods , 1988 .

[23]  B. G. Johnson,et al.  Improvements in reliability assessment and prediction methodology , 2000, Annual Reliability and Maintainability Symposium. 2000 Proceedings. International Symposium on Product Quality and Integrity (Cat. No.00CH37055).

[24]  J. H. Ong,et al.  Effect of Edge and Internal Point Support of a Printed Circuit Board Under Vibration , 1999 .

[25]  Michael J. Brennan,et al.  A novel high-displacement piezoelectric actuator for active vibration control , 1998 .

[26]  Mei Zhao,et al.  Fatigue of SMT solder joint including torsional curvature and chip location optimization , 2005 .

[27]  Michael Pecht,et al.  Effect of SMC Lead Dimensional Variabilities on Lead Compliance and Solder Joint Fatigue Life , 1992 .

[28]  Michael Pecht,et al.  PWB solder joint life calculations under thermal and vibrational loading , 1991, Annual Reliability and Maintainability Symposium. 1991 Proceedings.

[29]  Ming-Hung Hsu,et al.  Estimating the Dynamic Behavior of Printed Circuit Boards , 2006 .

[30]  P. O'Connor,et al.  Practical Reliability Engineering , 1981 .

[31]  J. H. Ong,et al.  A Simple Technique for Maximizing the Fundamental Frequency of Vibrating Structures , 2000 .

[32]  Yun Ling,et al.  Dynamic modeling and measurement of personal computer motherboards , 2002, 52nd Electronic Components and Technology Conference 2002. (Cat. No.02CH37345).

[33]  J. Lau,et al.  Solder joint reliability of fine pitch surface mount technology assemblies , 1989, Proceedings. Seventh IEEE/CHMT International Electronic Manufacturing Technology Symposium,.

[34]  Guglielmo S. Aglietti.  A lighter enclosure for electronics for space applications , 2002 .

[35]  Alexander Veprik,et al.  Ruggedizing printed circuit boards using a wideband dynamic absorber , 2003 .

[36]  Donald Barker,et al.  Modeling the Vibration Restraints of Wedge Lock Card Guides , 1993 .

[37]  Abhijit Dasgupta,et al.  Fatigue of Chip Scale Package Interconnects Due to Cyclic Bending , 2001 .

[38]  D. Hart.  Fatigue testing of a component lead in a plated through hole , 1988, Proceedings of the IEEE 1988 National Aerospace and Electronics Conference.

[39]  S. O. Reza Moheimani,et al.  A survey of recent innovations in vibration damping and control using shunted piezoelectric transducers , 2003, IEEE Trans. Control. Syst. Technol..

[40]  Santosh Shetty,et al.  Three- and Four-Point Bend Testing for Electronic Packages , 2003 .

[41]  Louis J. Gullo,et al.  Reliability assessment of aerospace electronic equipment , 1999 .

[42]  R. W. Kotlowitz,et al.  Compliance metrics for the inclined gull-wing, spider J-bend, and spider gull-wing lead designs for surface mount components , 1991, 1991 Proceedings 41st Electronic Components & Technology Conference.

[43]  D. E. Smith,et al.  The “Smeared” Property Technique for the FE Vibration Analysis of Printed Circuit Cards , 1991 .

[44]  Michael Osterman,et al.  Failure assessment software for circuit card assemblies , 1999, Annual Reliability and Maintainability. Symposium. 1999 Proceedings (Cat. No.99CH36283).

[45]  F. Jensen.  Electronic component reliability , 1999, IEEE Aerospace and Electronic Systems Magazine.

[46]  J. Spanos,et al.  A soft 6-axis active vibration isolator , 1995, Proceedings of 1995 American Control Conference - ACC'95.

[47]  Ephraim Suhir.  Nonlinear Dynamic Response of a Printed Circuit Board to Shock Loads Applied to Its Support Contour , 1992 .

[48]  S. J. Ham,et al.  Experimental study for reliability of electronic packaging under vibration , 1996 .

[49]  Wing Wong,et al.  Reliability of class 2 heel fillets on gull wing leaded components , 2003, 2003 IEEE Aerospace Conference Proceedings (Cat. No.03TH8652).

[50]  S. F. Morris,et al.  MIL-HDBK-217-A favorite target , 1993, Annual Reliability and Maintainability Symposium 1993 Proceedings.

[51]  Ron S. Li,et al.  Vibration fatigue, failure mechanism and reliability of plastic ball grid array and plastic quad flat packages , 2001 .

[52]  Alexander Veprik,et al.  Vibration Protection of Critical Components of Electronic Equipment in Harsh Environmental Conditions , 2003 .

[53]  P. Geng,et al.  Mechanical shock testing and modeling of PC motherboards , 2004, 2004 Proceedings. 54th Electronic Components and Technology Conference (IEEE Cat. No.04CH37546).

[54]  G S Aglietti,et al.  An efficient model of an equipment loaded panel for active control design studies. , 2000, The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America.

[55]  S. E. Yamada,et al.  A fracture mechanics approach to soldered joint cracking , 1989 .

[56]  James M. Pitarresi,et al.  Comparison of Modeling Techniques for the Vibration Analysis of Printed Circuit Cards , 1992 .

[57]  Qiang Guo,et al.  Vibration fatigue experiments of SMT solder joint , 2004, Microelectron. Reliab..

[58]  E. Suhir,et al.  Could compliant external leads reduce the strength of a surface-mounted device? , 1988, 38th Electronics Components Conference 1988., Proceedings..

[59]  Sidharth,et al.  Vibration Induced Fatigue Life Estimation of Corner Leads of Peripheral Leaded Components , 1996 .

[60]  Li Cheng,et al.  A feasibility study of active vibration isolation using THUNDER actuators , 2002 .

[61]  D. Das,et al.  A review of reliability prediction methods for electronic devices , 2002, Microelectron. Reliab..

[62]  L. Gullo.  In-service reliability assessment and top-down approach provides alternative reliability prediction method , 1999, Annual Reliability and Maintainability. Symposium. 1999 Proceedings (Cat. No.99CH36283).

[63]  R.W. Kotlowitz.  Comparative compliance of representative lead designs for surface mounted components , 1989, Proceedings., 39th Electronic Components Conference.

[64]  M. J. Cushing,et al.  Comparison of electronics-reliability assessment approaches , 1993 .

[65]  Elsayed A. Elsayed,et al.  Modelling accelerated life testing based on mean residual life , 2005, Int. J. Syst. Sci..