The daily work of quality and reliability professionals frequently involves the design of life tests for reliability demonstration, as well as the estimation of product reliability based on the tests performed.
This book presents the equations necessary to determine the minimum sample size required for an accelerated life test which can be used to demonstrate that an item meets the specified goals within a given statistical precision. It also gives the formulas for estimating the true average failure rate by means of a confidence level. The equations are straightforward and hand calculation is practical. For frequent and repetitive calculation, a computer program is described that eliminates the need for tables. Requiring just a basic knowledge of basic statistics, practical, step-by-step procedures are given for the most common life distributions: exponential, Weibull, normal, and log-normal. The book also discusses several practical aspects which should be considered for sound application of the procedures.
Foreword
Chapter 1.0. : Abstract
Chapter 2.0. : Introduction
Chapter 3.0. : Model Assumptions
Chapter 4.0. : Sample Size Determination Procedure
Chapter 5.0. : Average Failure Rate Estimation Procedure
Chapter 6.0. : Practical Considerations
Chapter 7.0. : Sample Size Calculation Method
Chapter 8.0. : Average Failure Rate Estimation Method
Chapter 9.0. : References
Appendix A : Notation
Appendix B : The Average Failure
Appendix C : Notes on the Acceleration Factor
Appendix D : The RELCALC Program
Appendix E : Statistical Tables
Appendix F : Calculation Diagrams
Index