Secure Your Brand's Reputation with Robust Reliability Testing Equipment.

Reliability testing is a critical component of a successful New Product Introduction (NPI) process. During the early design and prototyping phases, reliability testing equipment is used to perform discovery testing (like HALT) to quickly identify the weakest points in the new design. This allows engineers to make improvements when the cost of change is lowest. As the design matures, the equipment is used for design verification testing (DVT), where the product is tested against its specified reliability goals to ensure it is ready for launch. Finally, during initial production, ongoing reliability testing (ORT) is performed on a sample of products to ensure that the manufacturing process is stable and that the product's reliability has not drifted. Integrating reliability testing equipment throughout the NPI cycle is the best way to ensure a smooth, successful product launch and avoid costly post-launch failures.

Using reliability testing equipment effectively often means testing to established industry standards to ensure consistency and comparability. For the electronics industry, standards from JEDEC (Joint Electron Device Engineering Council) are crucial, covering everything from temperature cycling (JESD22-A104) to highly accelerated stress testing (JESD22-A110). The IEC (International Electrotechnical Commission) provides broad standards for environmental testing, such as the IEC 60068 series. For military and aerospace applications, MIL-STD-810 is the comprehensive standard for environmental engineering considerations and laboratory tests, covering a vast range of stresses. Automotive companies often use ISO standards, like ISO 16750, which details environmental testing for electrical and electronic equipment in road vehicles. WBE designs its reliability testing equipment to be fully capable of executing the test profiles required by these and many other international standards.

Reliability testing equipment is a family of machines designed to simulate a wide range of real-world and accelerated stresses. The most prominent category is environmental testing equipment, which includes temperature and humidity chambers, thermal shock chambers, rapid rate temperature chambers, and salt spray chambers for corrosion tests. The second major category is mechanical testing equipment, which assesses physical durability. This includes universal testing machines for tensile and compression strength, vibration test systems (shakers) to simulate transport and operational vibration, and shock testing machines. For specific industries like electronics, this also includes specialized tools like push-pull bond testers. A comprehensive reliability lab, like one equipped by WBE, will have a mix of these systems to get a complete picture of a product's long-term durability.

Accelerated life testing uses reliability testing equipment to speed up the aging process. One key type is accelerated temperature and humidity testing, often using a "85/85" test (85°C and 85% relative humidity) to accelerate failures in electronics caused by heat and moisture. Another is accelerated thermal cycling, performed in a rapid rate chamber, which stresses components through rapid expansion and contraction to find fatigue-related failures. Highly Accelerated Life Testing (HALT) is a more aggressive method where a product is stressed far beyond its operating limits until it fails, with the goal of quickly finding the weakest links in the design. Finally, accelerated vibration testing uses high-intensity vibration to simulate a lifetime of transport and operational stress in a matter of hours. WBE provides the equipment needed to perform all these critical accelerated tests.