The Definitive Guide to an Electronic Assembly Design Review / 16
8
Reliability Test Plan Development (cont.)
Stress tests are important as they can be initiated
relatively quickly to assess life expectancy
(temperature cycling) and performance under
humidity (temperature-humidity-bias) by utilizing a
stress level with an acceleration factor that can be
translated to the use environment. For example, 168
hours (1 week) of thermal cycling may equate to three
years in a field environment. If you complete the 168
hours successfully, you can report that your product
will also meet the three-year life expectancy.
Other tests such as mechanical shock, vibration, salt
fog, humidity testing, etc. may also be involved in the
development of the test plan portion of the review.
168 hours (1 week) of thermal cycling may equate to three years in a
field environment. Using stress tests as part of the design review can
significantly reduce time in test and time to market
