Reliability

What is the main purpose of collecting and analyzing information on failures of products in use in the market (field failures)?

  1. ATo raise product prices
  2. BTo eliminate testing altogether
  3. CTo understand failure trends under real usage and feed them back into improving design, manufacturing and test conditions
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Answer: C. To understand failure trends under real usage and feed them back into improving design, manufacturing and test conditions

Reliability tests only simulate real usage, and in the field failures can occur through unexpected use or environments. Analyzing returned failed parts and grasping trends in failure rates and modes helps improve design, manufacturing processes and test conditions.

  • A. Raising prices is not the purpose.
  • B. Pre-shipment testing is still needed even with field data.
  • C. Correct. Understanding real failure trends feeds improvement.
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More Reliability questions

  1. Among ESD (electrostatic discharge) test models, which pair correctly names "discharge when a charged person touches an IC pin" and "discharge when the IC itself is charged and a pin touches metal"?
  2. Which thermodynamics-based model expresses lifetime acceleration including the effects of multiple stresses such as humidity and voltage in addition to temperature?
  3. Which model expresses the fatigue life of solder joints under temperature cycling as a relationship between the temperature swing (strain magnitude) and the number of cycles?
  4. Which statistical distribution is commonly used to describe the times to failure of many wires in electromigration life tests?
  5. In automotive and similar applications, what is the summary called of which temperature, voltage and operating-time conditions a product will be exposed to over its lifetime?