• International Journal of Reliability and Applications
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• v.10 no.2
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• pp.109-118
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• 2009

Crankshaft, the core element of the engine of a vehicle, transforms the translational motion generated by combustion to rotational motion. Its failure will cause serious damage to the engine so its reliability verification must be performed. In this study, the S-N data of the bending and torsion fatigue limits of a crankshaft are derived. To evaluate the reliability of the crankshaft, reliability verification and analysis are performed. For the purpose of further evaluation, the bending and torsion tests of the original crankshaft are carried out, and failure mode analysis is made. The appropriate number of samples, the applied load, and the test time are computed. On the basis of the test results, Weibull analysis for the shape and scale parameters of the crankshaft is estimated. Likewise, the $B_{10}$ life under 50% of the confidence level and the MTTF are exactly calculated, and the groundwork for improving the reliability of the crankshaft is laid.

• Journal of the Korean Data and Information Science Society
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• v.17 no.3
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• pp.945-952
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• 2006

Several accelerated life test plans use tests at only two levels of stress and thus, have practical limitations. They highly depend upon the assumption of a linear relationship between stress and time-to-failure and use only two extreme stresses that can cause irrelevant failure modes. Thus 3-level stress plans are preferable. When the lifetime distribution of test unit is exponential with mean lifetime $\theta_i$ at stress $x_i$, i=0, 1, 2, 3, we derive the optimum quadratic plan under the assumption that a quadratic relationship exists between stress and log(mean lifetime), and propose the compound linear plans, as an alternative to the optimum quadratic plan. The proposed compound linear plan is better than two other compromise plans for constant stress testing and nearly as good as the optimum quadratic plan, and has the advantage of simplicity.

• Elastomers and Composites
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• v.59 no.2
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• pp.73-81
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• 2024

In the field of electronic components, the potting material, which is a part of the electronic circuit package, plays a significant role in protecting circuits from the external environment and reducing signal interference among electronic devices during operation. This significantly affects the reliability of the components. Therefore, the accurate prediction and assessment of the lifespan of a material are of paramount importance in the electronics industry. We conducted an accelerated thermal aging evaluation using the Arrhenius technique on elastic potting material developed in-house, focusing on its insulation, waterproofing, and contraction properties. Through a comprehensive analysis of these properties and their interrelations, we confirmed the primary factors influencing molding material failure, as increased hardness is related to aggregation, adhesion, and post-hardening or thermal-aging-induced contraction. Furthermore, when plotting failure times against temperature, we observed that the hardness, adhesive strength, and water absorption rate were the predominant factors up to 120 ℃. Beyond this temperature, the tensile properties were the primary contributing factors. In contrast, the dielectric constant and loss tangent, which are vital for reducing signal interference in electric devices, exhibited positive changes(decreases) with aging and could be excluded as failure factors. Our findings establish valuable correlations between physical properties and techniques for the accurate prediction of failure time, with broad implications for future product lifespans. This study is particularly advantageous for advancing elastic potting materials to satisfy the stringent requirements of reliable environments.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.11 no.4
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• pp.405-417
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• 2020

Background: Electrical socket outlets are used continuously until a failure occurs because they have no indication of manufacturing date or exchange specifications. For this reason, 659 electrical fires related to electrical socket outlets broke out in the Republic of Korea at 2018 only, an increase year on year. To reduce electrical fires from electrical socket outlets, it is necessary to perform an accelerated test and analyze the thermal, insulation resistance, and material properties of electrical socket outlets by installation years. Methods: Thermal characteristics were investigated by measured the temperature increase of electrical socket outlets classified according to year with variation of the current level. Insulation resistance characteristics was measured according to temperature for an electrical socket outlets by their years of use. Finally, to investigate the thermal and insulation resistance characteristics in relation to outlet aging, this study analyzed electrical socket outlets' conductor surface and content, insulator weight, and thermal deformation temperature. Results: Analysis showed, regarding the thermal characteristics, that electrical socket outlet temperature rose when the current value increased. Moreover, the longer the time that had elapsed since an accelerated test and installation, the higher the electrical socket outlet temperature was. With respect to the insulation resistance properties, the accelerated test (30 years) showed that insulation resistance decreased from 110 ℃. In relation to the installation year (30 years), insulation resistance decreased from 70 ℃, which is as much as 40 ℃ lower than the result found by the accelerated test. Regarding the material properties, the longer the elapsed time since installation, the rougher the surface of conductor contact point was, and cracks increased. Conclusion: The 30-year-old electrical socket outlet exceeded the allowable temperature which is 65 ℃ of the electrical contacts at 10 A, and the insulation resistance began to decrease at 70 ℃. It is necessary to manage electrical socket outlets that have been installed for a long time.

• International Journal of Reliability and Applications
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• v.18 no.2
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• pp.21-44
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• 2017

Accelerated life tests (ALTs) are frequently used in manufacturing industries to evaluate the reliability of products within a reasonable amount of time and cost. Test units are subjected to elevated stresses which yield quick failures. Most of the previous works on designing ALT plans are focused on tests that involve a single stress. Many times more than one stress factor influence the product's functioning. This paper deals with the design of optimum modified ramp-stress ALT plan for Burr type XII distribution with Type-I censoring under two stress factors, viz., voltage and switching rate each at two levels- low and high. It is assumed that usage time to failure is power law function of switching rate, and voltage increases linearly with time according to modified ramp-stress scheme. The cumulative exposure model is used to incorporate the effect of changing stresses. The optimum plan is devised using D-optimality criterion wherein the ${\log}_{10}$ of the determinant of Fisher information matrix is maximized. The method developed has been explained using a numerical example and sensitivity carried out.

• Journal of the Korea Institute of Military Science and Technology
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• v.13 no.2
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• pp.336-341
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• 2010

The burning interruption between the initiator and the delay column in a Zr-Ni K1 delay system used for a K510 fuze occurs with long-time storage. About 10 % failure probability of 15-years stored delay systems shows the failure mode in open literature. This paper shows storage lifetime improvement results for the delay system through changing the single-base delay column into double-base ones and controlling the manufacturing processes especially the initial inclusion of humidity. The double-base delay columns was implemented by inserting one delay column of fast burning rates between the initiator and the previous delay column of slow burning rates. Accelerated aging tests of the delay systems with double-base columns, and then the firing tests were performed to evaluate the improved lifetime. The double-base delay columns shows improved storage lifetime of the delay system through preventing the failure mode.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.19 no.6
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• pp.337-343
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• 2009

In this study, we optimized Pb-free Sn/Ni plating thickness and conditions were optimized to counteract the environmental regulations, such as RoHS and ELV(End-of Life Vehicles). The $B_{10}$ life verification method was also suggested to have been successful when used with the accelerated life test(ALT) for assessing Pb-free solder joint life of piezoelectric (PZT) ceramic resonator. In order to evaluate the solder joint life, a modified Norris-Landzberg equation and a Coffin-Manson equation were utilized. Test vehicles that were composed of 2520 PZT ceramic resonator on FR-4 PCB with Sn-3.0Ag-0.5Cu for ALT were manufactured as well. Thermal shock test was conducted with 1,500 cycles from $(-40{\pm}2)^{\circ}C$ to $(120{\pm}2)^{\circ}C$, and 30 minutes dwell time at each temperature, respectively. It was discovered that the thermal shock test is a very useful method in introducing the CTE mismatch caused by thermo-mechanical stress at the solder joints. The resonance frequency of test components was measured and observed the microsection views were also observed to confirm the crack generation of the solder joints.

• Corrosion Science and Technology
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• v.22 no.3
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• pp.153-163
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• 2023

Two types of accelerated tests, Water Drop Test (WDT) and Temperature-Humidity-Bias Test (THBT), can be used to evaluate the susceptibility to electrochemical migration (ECM). In the WDT, liquid water is directly applied to a specimen, typically a patterned conductor like a printed circuit board. Time to failure in the WDT typically ranges from several seconds to several minutes. On the other hand, the THBT is conducted under elevated temperature and humidity conditions, allowing for assessment of design and life cycle factors on ECM. THBT is widely recognized as a more suitable method for reliability testing than WDT. In both test methods, localized corrosion can be observed on the anode. Composition of dendrites formed during the WDT is similar to that formed during THBT. However, there is a lack of correlation between the time to failure obtained from WDT and that obtained from THBT. In this study, we investigated the relationship between electrochemical parameters and time to failure obtained from both WDT and THBT. Differences in time to failure can be attributed to actual anode potential obtained in the two tests.

• Journal of the Korea Institute of Military Science and Technology
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.215-223
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• 2012

A violet smoke hand grenade(KM18) is used to generate signals. The grenade is considered to fail when its smoke emission time is longer than the specified one so that its smoke concentration becomes lighter. Accelerated degradation test for the grenade was performed, and then failure in smoke emission time was reproduced from the test. Stress for the degradation test was selected as temperature/humidity from the pre-test results. Degraded data of emission time from the accelerated test were analyzed through applying a distibution-based degradation model. Then, Peck Model was applied to predict the storage life under field conditions. In addition, the predicted storage life was compared with that of ASRP(Ammunition Stockpile Reliability Program).

• International Journal of Reliability and Applications
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.23-50
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• 2014

This paper deals with formulation of optimum multi-objective modified step-stress accelerated life test (ALT) plan for Burr type-XII distribution under type-I censoring. Since it is impractical to estimate only one objective parameter after conducting costly ALT tests; also, it is not desirable to assume instantaneous changes in stress levels because of limited capacity of test equipments and the presence of undesirable failure modes, therefore, an optimum multi-objective modified step-stress ALT plan has been designed. The optimal test plan consists in determining the optimum low stress level and optimal time at which stress starts linearly increasing from low stress by minimizing the weighted sum of the asymptotic variances of the maximum likelihood estimator of quantile lifetimes at design constant stress. The method developed has been illustrated using an example. Sensitivity analysis has been carried out. Comparative study has also been done to highlight the merits of the proposed model.