Prognostics and health monitoring for improved qualification

The aim of qualification is to verify whether a product meets or exceeds the reliability and quality requirements of its intended application. Qualification plays an important role in the process of product development. It can be classified by its specific purpose at different stages of the product development process. In this paper, a new methodology of product qualification is proposed based on physics-of-failure. This methodology consists of: product configuration and material information collection; application requirement information collection; strength limits and margins; failure modes, mechanisms and effects analysis; definition of qualification requirements; qualification test planning; testing; failure analysis and verification; and quality and reliability assessment. This approach to qualification ensures that it successfully addresses the failure mechanisms applicable to the product´s specific design, manufacture, and application conditions.