Design of reliability qualification test for an underwater electronic device based on Arrhenius formula

Arrhenius formula is widely used when accelerated stress needs to be determined in a temperature accelerated test for an electronic device, with “T” denoting temperature in the formula often measured as environment temperature. However, from the point of view of failure mechanisms, the temperature of the point where the failure process takes place should be used as that “T”. Thus two different ways to determine the temperature stress in the test derive from different understandings of the “T” in Arrhenius formula. This article will compare and evaluate the two ways with an example of an underwater electronic device. And a method to estimate the node temperature via the environment temperature is introduced in the example for reference in engineering practice.