ÿþ<html><head> <title>Improving the Reliability of a Water Dispenser Lever in a Refrigerator Subjected to Repetitive Stresses</title></head> <body bgcolor="#ffffff"> <center> <i>Engineering Failure Analysis, <font color="#000000">Vol. 16, No. 5, pp. 1597-1606, </font><font color="#000000">July 2009</font>.</i> <br> <h2><font color="#000000"><b>Improving the Reliability of a Water Dispenser Lever in a Refrigerator Subjected to Repetitive Stresses</b></font></h2> <p><b>Seong-woo Woo</b><br> <b> Dongsu Ryu<br> </b>SAMSUNG Electronics Co., Ltd. <br> 272, Oseon-Dong<br> Gwangsan-Gu Gwangju-City 506-723 <br> South Korea</p> <p><b>Dennis L. O&rsquo;Neal<br> </b> Texas A&amp;M University <br> College Station, TX, USA</p> <p><b> Michael Pecht</b> <br> Center for Advanced Life Cycle Engineering (CALCE)<br> Department of Mechanical Engineering<br> University of Maryland<br> College Park, MD 20742<br> </p> </center> <b>Abstract:</b> <p>Based on field data and a tailored set of accelerated life tests, the drawer system of food storage in a French refrigerator was redesigned. Using a force balance analysis, the simple mechanical loads of the drawer system were evaluated. The failure modes and mechanisms found experimentally were similar to those of the failed samples in the field. Failure analysis, accelerated life tests and corrective action plans were used to identify the key control parameters and level for the mechanical drawer system. The missing controllable design parameters of the drawer system in the design phase included no corner rounding and rib thickness in the intersection areas between the box and its cover, the right, center support and left rail system. After a tailored series of accelerated life tests with corrective action plans, the B1 life of the new draw system is now guaranteed to be over 10 years with a yearly failure rate of 0.1%.</p> <p><b>Keywords:</b> Robustness, Parameter design, Load analysis, Accelerated life testing.</p> <p><a href="../../fulltext/2009/EFA_1201.pdf">Complete article</a> is available to CALCE Consortium Members.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <hr><br> <center> [<a href="http://www.calce.umd.edu">Home Page</a>] [<a href="../../">Articles Page</a>] </center> <center><font size="-1">Copyright &copy; 2009 by CALCE and the University of Maryland, All Rights Reserved </font></center> </body></html>