A reliability assessment method based on an accelerated testing under thermal cycling environment

Abstract

This article proposes a reliability assessment method based on an accelerated testing under thermal cycling environment to assess the reliability of an electronic device with multiple failure modes. First, two typical failure modes of the electronic devices in the thermal environment are analyzed. It is concluded that the reliability of a complicated electronic device (with both the two typical failure modes) is difficult to assess through the existing accelerated testing methods. Second, an acceleration model is established by combining the Arrhenius model with the Norris–Landzberg model. The influences of the thermal cycling environment on both the typical failures are taken into account in this model. Third, a thermal cycling test plan is developed, and a new approach is proposed to evaluate the reliability of an electronic device with multiple failure modes. Finally, a numerical example is illustrated to demonstrate the feasibility of proposed method, and the calculation results show the efficiency of the proposed method.