New methods in accelerated reliability testing of electronic components for automotives under field conditions

The reliability of components and circuits is normally determined by standardized methods. Test programs with special parameters must be fixed in contracts between supplier and customer. In order to save time, accelerated tests are used. The results of these tests can only be statements of "passed" or "failed". Problems arise from the fact that failure rates of components, especially in electronics, become ever smaller. The acceleration factors for the degradation processes involved are often unknown. Overstressing must be avoided. No information is given about such parameters as expected lifetime. FEM methods are promising but still suffer from the lack of knowledge of degradation dependent physical data. Some new developments deal with accelerated testing under field conditions using degradation kinetics. Mathematical models for the active degradation processes are needed. Using high precision measurements, one can obtain experimental data for fitting procedures and for the calculation of reliability parameters. The paper gives some ideas in this area.