Created: 10/24/95 Updated: 4/18/97

Project Number: C93-16

Physics-of-Failure Based Reliability Study

Point of Contact:  Dr. Michael Pecht
email: pecht@eng.umd.edu
Phone: (301) 405-5323
Fax: (301) 314-9269
 
Objectives Background Work Accomplished

 Objectives

Develop guidelines to facilitate incorporation of Physics-of-Failure tools in product and process development stage of electronic systems.
 

Background

Physics-of-Failure (PoF) is an established design tool in many engineering disciplines. This method is a design tool geared towards understanding the root causes of failures. The underlying physics of the failures provide tools for developing products that will have higher reliability.  Physics-of-Failure is a promising methodology  for electronic systems development.  However, it is still slow in gaining acceptance in the electronics.  One of the reason for that is lack of understanding on how these tools can be used in electronics system development steps such as testing, accelerated testing, stress management.  There is a need for guidelines that companies can use for to introduce Physics-of-Failure methodology in all phases of product development process.
 

Work accomplished

Various stages of electronic product development are studied with a view to incorporate PoF in those stages. Documents to guide companies in incorporating PoF tool in those stages are created and distributed. These documents include: