Abstract:

Electronic products are continually developed as well as redesigned to improve performance and enhance reliability. These products are required to meet reliability requirements expected by the customer. Traditionally, reliability of products has been ensured by physical testing that can be time consuming and result in design change iterations delaying product introduction or delivery. To reduce time to market, improve reliability, and product development costs, simulation techniques that can replicate physical tests can be used. Simulation must include consideration of product response to anticipated use and test conditions as well as identification of failure mechanisms and failure sites including estimated time to failure. In this paper, virtual qualification using simulation assisted reliability assessment (SARA®) approach is introduced. Failure mechanisms of electronic products are discussed and methods for estimating time to failure are provided. Finally, a case study on the life assessment of a commercially available flash drive is presented. The predicted results are compared to experimental test results to determine the accuracy of the approach.

Keywords: Electronics Reliability, Virtual Qualification.

Complete article is available from the publisher and to the CALCE Consortium Members.