Abstract
Engineers are constantly confronted with time issues. Applying a constant stress and waiting for failure can be very time consuming. Thus, it is only natural to ask the question — does a rapid time-zero test exist that can be used on a routine sampling basis to monitor the reliability of the materials/devices? The answer to this question is often yes and it is called the ramp-to-failure test. While the test is destructive in nature (one has to sacrifice materials/devices), it is generally much more rapid than conventional constant-stress time-to-failure tests. The relative quickness of the test also enables the gathering of more data and thus the gathering of better statistics.
An erratum to this chapter is available at 10.1007/978-1-4419-6348-2_15
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Notes
- 1.
One should always question the existence of a yield stress ξyield. Some materials have a yield stress, some do not. Even if a material has a reported yield point, a slight crack/defect existing in the material may have an adverse impact on the yield point. The stress riser at the crack-tip/defect may produce a local stress in the material well above the yield stress. Degradation would now be expected even though the average stress may be below ξyield.
- 2.
Generally, the slower the ramp rate, the closer the ramp test results will match actual constant-stress time-to-failure results.
- 3.
Reminder — any cum fraction F can be used to determine β provided that the corresponding ξbd(F%) is also used. If one chooses to use F=0.1, then \(\beta = 2.25/\left\{ {\gamma [\xi _{bd} (63\% ) - \xi _{bd} (10\% )]} \right\}\).
- 4.
If one uses F=0.1 then \(\beta = 2.25/\left\{ {(n + 1)\ln [\xi _{\textrm{bd}} (63\% )/\xi _{\textrm{bd}} (10\% )]} \right\}\).
- 5.
Actually, the wind speed is usually gusting (time-dependent).Chapter 13 describes how one can convert dynamical conditions to an effective static condition.
References
Anolick, E. and G. Nelson: Low-Field Time-Dependent Dielectric Breakdown, IEEE International Reliability Symposium Proceedings, 8 (1979).
Berman, A.: Time-Zero Dielectric Breakdown by a Ramp Method, IEEE International Reliability Symposium Proceedings, 204 (1981).
McPherson, J.: Stress-Dependent Activation Energy, IEEE International Reliability Symposium Proceedings, 12 (1986).
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McPherson, J. (2010). Ramp-to-Failure Testing. In: Reliability Physics and Engineering. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-6348-2_10
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-6348-2_10
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