Accelerated reliability growth testing and data analysis method

Accelerated reliability growth tests are prepared to simulate the life time exposure of the tested product to the environmental and operational stresses it is expected to experience in use. The duration of each individual stress is augmented by a margin to ensure demonstrated reliability. The tests are applied simultaneously or in sequence in a manner to allow the highest level of interaction of the stresses and adequate cumulative damage to the tested product to represent its predetermined life. Times of failure occurrences are correlated with the actual corresponding times in life, so that the failure appearances are measured regarding duration of their respective stresses in life as if applied in parallel, which is actually the case. This correlation does not only mean the deceleration using the acceleration factors, but also adequate mapping of the respective stresses to the duration of the product life, introducing other factors like those that explain how the stress is distributed over the lifetime. In that manner the times to failure are independent of the test sequence, as it could be the case with the traditional methods of reliability growth test data analysis. Once the actual times to failures are organized, this methodology allows application of any preferable reliability growth model to produce realistic reliability growth test results and reliability projections