This video clip looks like a disaster but is actually a visualization of precision reliability engineering………. right after a disaster . [Read more…]
Stress Margin Design with perfect precision, and some parts blowing up
on Product Reliability
A listing in reverse chronological order of articles by:
- Kirk Grey — Accelerated Reliability series
- Les Warrington — Achieving the Benefits of Reliability series
- Adam Bahret — Apex Ridge series
- Michael Pfeifer — Metals Engineering and Product Reliability series
- Fred Schenkelberg — Musings on Reliability and Maintenance series
- Arthur Hart — Reliability Engineering Insights series
- Chris Jackson — Reliability in Emerging Technology series
Weibull explained (a bit)
Many of our customers (internal/external) trust us when we say that a Weibull analysis is the best approach to understanding what the data set is telling us. We then take their data set, do something mysterious where no one can see us, and then present these accurate predictions as to what is going to happen with a given population of the product at some future date. [Read more…]
The Perfect Strength and Stress Concepts
Recently Peter Stuttard asked if I knew of a reference for the perfect strength and perfect stress concepts. I didn’t and asked for a bit of explanation of the phrases.
Here is his reply (via Linkedin, btw a great tool to get and stay in touch) posted with permission with minor formatting edits.
To learn more about Peter check out his Linkedin profile.
Fred
Thanks for responding so quickly, the concepts of Perfect Strength and Perfect Stress are related to your discussion re Parts Count and Parts Stress predictions and reading this on your web site prompted me to ask you about them. [Read more…]
Managing Up – Beyond the Analysis Numbers
Often when we request an analysis from an engineer we run with the results and don’t ask a lot of questions about the analysis itself. Having done a lot of analysis I am familiar with all the assumptions and estimations that go into making a calculation work. But that means that the results of the analysis are only relevant to those assumptions and estimations. The analyst may have to make the following “calls” without additional input or only a small fact-finding mission. [Read more…]
Making Your Reliability Data Analysis Count
Ensuring Reliability Data Analysis Leads to Positive Action
Convince, don’t confuse! Justify, don’t exaggerate!
Project managers want to deliver their product on time and on schedule. Design engineers want to believe that they have got it right. But your analysis, test results and field data suggest that there might be a problem. What do you do?
The key words here are “suggest” and “might be”. How should you present your evidence and analysis such that it doesn’t exaggerate with certainty, or confuse with statistics? How should you ensure that your conclusions lead to positive action? [Read more…]
The Need to Improve the Reliability Narrative
Little Compromises and Future Costs
In a recent Seth Godin blog, Counting beans he talks about the eventual costs of little compromises. The immediate benefit may be celebration worthy, yet
But overlooked are the unknown costs over time, the erosion in brand, the loss in quality, the subtraction from something that took years to add up.
This certainly applies to reliability as well. Deferring maintenance just one more month, addressing one more software bug can be done after shipping, and similar small shifts erode reliability of your system. [Read more…]
The Systems Desire
My career path in systems engineering. I don’t mean my professional engineering career exactly. My systems engineering portfolio I would say started at about the age of nine if I had to pick a point in time. At nine I made a small hydro-electric power plant in the stream behind my house so I could have light in the woods. I could have taken a purely electrical approach, battery, wires, bulb, or a chemistry approach, matches, wood, oxygen, or a mechanical approach (actually how do you make light mechanically? Sparks??) anyway… But I took a systems approach. [Read more…]
Interviewing for Reliability Position with Senior Managers
Preparing for an Interview with Senior Managers for a Reliability Engineering Position
Organizations around the world are recognizing the value of reliability engineering. Or, they are realizing that creating a durable product that delights the customer is good for business.
Another contributor to the interest in reliable products is the news of recalls. One recall not only distrupts the normal course of business, it may alter the future of the company. It may cause the collapse of the organization. Some do better than others, yet a major, in the news, recall is something to avoid. Creating a reliable product helps.
So you made it past the initial round of interview and have been called back to talk to the senior folks. As with any job interview, being prepared helps you present your best self. Understanding the business drivers motivating an interest in reliablity is essential for your preperation. This is not how to prepare an accelerated test plan type question, rather it is about how the results of an ALT will provide relevant value to the organization. [Read more…]
A video of the great grandchild of the product of the first HALT
I don’t know if you recall a post from my blog, “HALT Testing is Not Always In a Chamber”, that discussed what I consider to be the first documented HALT test. Well I just found a video of the design solution in action and it is super cool. I discussed how during 
the development of the F1 rocket motor, for the Apollo space program, they solved a design issue with a HALT technique, although they didn’t call it HALT at the time. The issue they were attempting to solve was the thrust nozzles fracturing due to oscillating vibration. [Read more…]
Seminar: HALT Techniques and connecting to program objectives
This is the third session from the Annual Apex Ridge Reliability Seminar held in Boston.
In this session, I discuss the methodology of HALT and how to connect it with program tools and objectives.
The philosophy of HALT is often misunderstood simply due to its name and acronym, “Highly Accelerated Life Testing” (HALT).
It is not an accelerated life test, it’s really not even a test. HALT is a process of increasing stress on a design to induce failures for the purpose of learning about the design and improving its robustness.
It’s a discovery process. [Read more…]
Use and Environmental Profiles
Use and Environmental profiles
Did you know that hot air doesn’t rise when there is no or very little gravity?
The electronics used to steer an oil exploration drill head 5 miles deep in the earth experiences 200°C sulfuric acid immersion along with continuous 50,000G shocks.
I used to think the environment under the hood a car was difficult. [Read more…]
Seminar: Reliability Testing Outputs as Program Inputs
This is the second session from the Annual Apex Ridge Reliability Seminar held in Boston.
The session focus was how to best use specialized testing technique outputs as effective program inputs. There are simple steps for hooking the information from the test data into the correct program management decision points.
Very often opportunities are missed in programs by aligning testing outputs with incorrect program phases. [Read more…]
The Environmental and Use Manual
Environmental and Use Manual
How well can you describe the use conditions your product will experience?
How well do you need to know the use conditions?
For some situations, the environment for your product is assessable, others are not. For some situations, we guess the range of expected stresses, others we measure.
The design process and the myriad decisions that impact product reliability rely on characterized environmental stresses.
A great place to consolidate how and where customers will use your product (including the relevant stress factors) is in an environmental manual. [Read more…]
Annual Apex Ridge Seminar “Balancing Reliability with Product Development Goals”
We just held the Annual Apex Ridge/NEHALT seminar, sponsored by Qualmark. We had a full house again which was great. This year’s seminar was in three sections.
The first section discussed the methodology for balancing reliability with other product goals during a development program.
The second session was on Reliability testing tools and how to use their outputs to steer program decisions and design improvement. The third session was on specialized HALT testing techniques. [Read more…]
When Smart TV Content Delivery Fails, Who is to Blame?
A Crisis in the Home IT department
If you are the head of your home IT department, you may relate to this tale
Last night my wonderful wife Stacy was riddled with angst over the disruption of her binge watching a spy series, a mild crisis with our own IT hardware.
The cause of her disappointment was the failure of our new large screen Ultra High Definition (UHD) Smart TV to deliver a drama series with a reasonable picture and sound quality. [Read more…]
