How to Create an ALT Plan

We cheat time. As reliability engineers, we are asked to peer into the future and predict the time to failure for our products and systems.

So, how do you go about setting up an accelerated life test? There are options that work, and some that do not.

Focus on the failure mechanism. That is the best advice I ever received learning about ALT design.

It is easy to apply a stress for some set time and declare the product is reliable. Yet, the result most likely is not useful. Applying a stress that actually accelerates the desired failure mechanism will get your meaningful results.

So, how do you go about designing an ALT that actually yields valuable information?

ALT takes many forms yet the results of the testing should reveal time to failure information. We should answer the question of how many units will fail over some duration? Unfortunately, even very poor tests will create an answer.

Let’s discuss how you can craft meaningful ALTs that provide meaningful results that the science and engineering support.

No ALT is a perfect view of the future, yet creating an ALT that guides decisions with evidence is better than just guessing or hoping.

Let’s discuss the key elements you need to create a custom ALT plan. And let’s touch on how some ALTs will certainly produce misleading results. Focus on the failure mechanism.

Understand how the applied stress accelerates the damage leading to failure. And, we can briefly discuss the various ways to approach an ALT. So bring your questions and join the discussion.

This Accendo Reliability webinar originally broadcast on 8 February 2016.