Predicting Long Lifetimes Using Accelerated Reliability Techniques

Abstract

A continual challenge in lamp development is the need to rapidly test products that have lifetime ratings in the tens of thousands of hours. Traditional life testing, under controlled conditions, remains a mainstay test procedure. However, highly reliable statistical analysis methods allow lamp developers to estimate long lifetimes at a fraction of the testing time. These techniques usually involve the well known Weibull distribution together with historic data, multi-level accelerated stress testing, and virtual failure analysis to reduce the necessary testing times for establishing product life and reliability.