Step-stress accelerated degradation test for Inverse Gaussian process based on M-optimality criterion.

Area of Science:

• Reliability Engineering
• Statistical Modeling
• Accelerated Testing

Background:

• Step-Stress Accelerated Degradation Test (SSADT) is crucial for assessing product reliability under stress.
• Optimal design of SSADT is gaining importance for accurate failure analysis.
• Existing methods often prioritize prediction or evaluation accuracy over mechanism understanding.

Purpose of the Study:

• To introduce and evaluate the M-optimality criterion for designing SSADTs.
• To improve the failure mechanism equivalence in reliability assessments.
• To apply the M-optimality criterion to the Inverse Gaussian (IG) degradation process.

Main Methods:

• Application of the M-optimality criterion to SSADT design.
• Minimizing the asymptotic variance of the Mechanism equivalence factor (Mef).
• Analysis of stress relaxation failure data from electrical connectors.

Main Results:

• The M-optimality criterion was applied to SSADT design for IG processes.
• It was demonstrated that M-optimality improves failure mechanism equivalence.
• The criterion showed minimal impact on model parameter estimation and life prediction accuracy.

Conclusions:

• M-optimality offers a superior approach for SSADT design by focusing on failure mechanism equivalence.
• This criterion provides a valuable alternative to traditional optimization methods in reliability engineering.
• The study validates the effectiveness of M-optimality using real-world electrical connector data.