In general, the performance of a component degrades as time goes by and failure of a component occurs when the performance degradation reaches a pre-specified level. It is difficult to obtain the failure time distribution data or the necessary number of failure data especially for the metal or machine part. Thus, a design of reliability qualification test based on performance distribution is more effective than failure time distribution. In this study, a performance-based reliability qualification test is developed and a numerical example is provided to illustrate the use of the developed reliability qualification test. This approach could be applied to many kinds of metal or machine part whose magnitude of strength could not be evaluated during at any random points but judgement can be made by only failure of the part. Besides, it is also possible that any parts which have a similar failure characteristics could be applicable to the developed reliability qualification test.

Lighting industry is rapidly being developed as the ubiquitous society based on sensor network emerges. This kind of paradigm shift brings the society convergence of technologies which leads to smart lighting system as well as the integration of interior and sensibility control. However, standards for sensors have not been firmly established, and problems related to quality and malfunction have been brought up, thereby calling for careful approach to the enhancement and assessment of reliability of the item. In this article reliability assessment criteria for sensor module for lighting fixtures is established in terms of performance assessment criterion and reliability assessment criterion.

In this paper, an accelerated degradation test procedure for an electronic appliance compressor is proposed. We investigate the amount of wear of the compressor and consider several factors as accelerating factors. Finally we select the operating pressure as a main accelerating factor. The test condition of accelerated degradation test is determined. The modified accelerating test reduces the test time in design phase by using the suggested accelerating factor.

Statistical process control (SPC) is a powerful technique for monitoring, managing, analysing and improving the process performance. However, its has limitations such as lack of engineering, statistical skill and training, and lesser importance of activity. To solve the problems, this study proposes an intelligent SPC system using specified agents which are derived through analysis and evaluation of the SPC activities. The activities investigated by the relevant researches are categorized as collection, process analysis, diagnosis, detection, cause analysis and rule generation. Also, the evaluation criteria are established as feasibility of automation, frequency, level and time. The requirements of the agent functions are derived by the evaluation, and the types of customized agents are as data collection, store, analysis, diagnosis, monitoring, alarm and reporting. A prototype SPC system represents that the functions of the proposed agents are successfully validated.

The HANARO nuclear research reactor had been operated successfully and smoothly up to the year 2008 since its first year of instability in year 1995 just after the completion of construction. But the reliability of the reactor has been degraded from the year 2009 due to new experimental facilities such as Feul Test Loop(FTL) and Cold Neutron Source(CNS) which were installed in the HANARO plant. It turned out that these new facilities contributed unexpected stoppage of the plant. This paper describes causes of stoppage and suggestions to improve the reliability of the plant.

NAND-type SONOS with a separated double-gate FinFET structure (SDF-Fin SONOS) flash memory devices are proposed to reduce the unit cell size of the memory device and increase the memory density in comparison with conventional non volatile memory devices. The proposed memory device consists of a pair of control gates separated along the direction of the Fin width. There are two unique alternative technologies in this study. One is a channel doping method and the other is an oxide thickness variation method, which are used to operate the SDF-Fin SONOS memory device as two-bit. The fabrication processes and the device characteristics are simulated by using technology comuter-adided(TCAD). The simulation results indicate that the charge trap probability depends on the different channel doping concentration and the tunneling oxide thickness. The proposed SDG-Fin SONOS memory devices hold promise for potential application.

All activities relate to railway traffic involve risk and that these arise from a combination of the nature of operating activities. Proper management system is required to provide the organizational capability to reveal, analyse and address these weaknesses over time and in reasonably practicable ways, which will determine the rate at which risks can be further reduced. This paper presents a systematic risk analysis approach to safety planning and decision making, informed by a range of risk assessment techniques. An railway organization's safety management system is also presented that shows the approaches taken to minimize the external risks, and identify the shared risks and explain how they will be controlled through collaboration with others.