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by Fred Schenkelberg 5 Comments

Field Data Analysis First Look

What Can Field Failure Data Reveal?

Field data analysis starts with the collection of data.

In a previous article, we used a Nevada chart to gather the counts per month of field failure data. The chart also provides the necessary data to account for how many units have not failed as of yet.

The Nevada chart on its own is just a table of numbers and does not reveal patterns of the changing nature of failure rates over time. Are we experiencing early life failures or wear out related failures?

We need to conduct some data analysis to learn what message the data contains. [Read more…]

by Fred Schenkelberg 1 Comment

Electronics Failure Analysis Done the Right Way

“Failures are gold”

Early in my career the engineering manager relished discovering equipment failure.

It didn’t matter if it was human, electronic, mechanical or software in nature, the glint in his eye soon gave way to a flood of possibilities. He enjoyed the process of investigating the fundamental reasons a failure occurred. [Read more…]

by Kirk Gray Leave a Comment

Why the Drain in the Bathtub Curve Matters

Most reliability engineers are familiar with the life cycle bathtub curve, the shape of the hazard rate or risks of failure of a electronic product over time. A typical electronic’s life cycle bathtub curve is shown in figure 1. [Read more…]

by Fred Schenkelberg 2 Comments

Failure Analysis: The Key to Learning From Failure

What have you really learned from failure?

Why do so many avoid failure?

In product development of plant asset management, we are surrounded by people that steadfastly do not want to know about or talk about failures.

Failure does happen. Let’s not ignore this simple fact. [Read more…]

by Fred Schenkelberg 2 Comments

Mechanical Systems Reliability Testing

Mechanical Systems Accelerated Life or Reliability Testing

Mechanical systems wear out and fail eventually. The ability of a structure to support a load, move through the specified range of motion, or spin degrades with use and time. Even our joints eventually wear out.

Accelerated life testing (ALT) has plenty of literature concerning the failure mechanisms unique to electronic components and materials. This is partially due to the limited number of unique electronic components compared to the often custom mechanical designs. ALT also has value as it provides information about a system’s reliability performance in the future.

Let’s explore an example of mechanical reliability testing (an ALT) in order to outline a basic approach to ALT design and analysis. [Read more…]