• Journal of Korean Society for Quality Management
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• v.32 no.4
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• pp.208-219
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• 2004

This paper considers a nonparametric estimation of lifetime distribution for ramp stress tests with stress bound under intermittent inspection. The test items are inspected only at specified time points an⊂1 so the collected observations are grouped data. Under the cumulative exposure model, two nonparametric estimation methods of estimating the lifetime distribution at use condition stress are proposed for the situation which the time transformation function relating stress to lifetime is a type of the inverse power law. Each of items is initially put on test under ramp stress and then survivors are put on test under constant stress, where all failures in the Inspection interval are assumed to occur at the midi)oint or the endpoint of that interval. Two proposed estimators of quantile from grouped data consisting of the number of items failed in each inspection interval are numerically compared with the maximum likelihood estimator(MLE) based on Weibull distribution.

• International Journal of Reliability and Applications
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• v.18 no.2
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• pp.21-44
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• 2017

Accelerated life tests (ALTs) are frequently used in manufacturing industries to evaluate the reliability of products within a reasonable amount of time and cost. Test units are subjected to elevated stresses which yield quick failures. Most of the previous works on designing ALT plans are focused on tests that involve a single stress. Many times more than one stress factor influence the product's functioning. This paper deals with the design of optimum modified ramp-stress ALT plan for Burr type XII distribution with Type-I censoring under two stress factors, viz., voltage and switching rate each at two levels- low and high. It is assumed that usage time to failure is power law function of switching rate, and voltage increases linearly with time according to modified ramp-stress scheme. The cumulative exposure model is used to incorporate the effect of changing stresses. The optimum plan is devised using D-optimality criterion wherein the ${\log}_{10}$ of the determinant of Fisher information matrix is maximized. The method developed has been explained using a numerical example and sensitivity carried out.

• Journal of Korean Society for Quality Management
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• v.25 no.2
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• pp.1-14
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• 1997

This paper considers maximum likelihood (ML) estimation of lifetime distribution under stress bounded ramp tests in which the stress is increased linearly from used condition stress to the stress u, pp.r bound. The following assumptions are used: exponential lifetime distribution under a constant stress, an inverse power law relationship between stress and mean of exponential lifetime distribution, and a cumulative exposure model for the effect of changing stress. Likelihood equations for the parameters involved in the model and asymptotic distribution of the estimators are obtained, and a numerical example is given.

• International Journal of Reliability and Applications
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.125-150
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• 2014

Accelerated life tests (ALTs) are extensively used to determine the reliability of a product in a short period of time. Test units are subject to elevated stresses which yield quick failures. ALT can be carried out using constant-stress, step-stress, progressive-stress, cyclic-stress or random-stress loading and their various combinations. An ALT with linearly increasing stress is ramp-stress test. Much of the previous work on planning ALTs has focused on constant-stress, step-stress, ramp-stress schemes and their various combinations where the stress is generally increased. This paper presents an optimal design of ramp soak-stress ALT model which is based on the principle of Thermal cycling. Thermal cycling involves applying high and low temperatures repeatedly over time. The optimal plan consists in finding out relevant experimental variables, namely, stress rates and stress rate change points, by minimizing variance of reliability function with pre-specified mission time under normal operating conditions. The Burr type XII life distribution and time-censored data have been used for the purpose. Burr type XII life distribution has been found appropriate for accelerated life testing experiments. The method developed has been explained using a numerical example and sensitivity analysis carried out.

• Journal of Korean Institute of Industrial Engineers
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• v.22 no.3
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• pp.459-471
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• 1996

This paper considers ramp tests for exponential lifetime distribution when there are limitations on test stress and test time. The inverse power law and a cumulative exposure model are assumed. Maximum likelihood (ML) estimators of model parameters and their asymptotic covariance matrix are obtained. The optimum ramp test plans are also found which minimize the asymptotic variance of the ML estimator of the log mean life at design constant stress. For selected values of the design parameters, tables useful for finding optimal test plans are given. The effect of the pre-estimates of design parameters is studied.

• Journal of Korean Society for Quality Management
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• v.27 no.3
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• pp.79-93
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• 1999

The common accelerated life test(ALT) consists of test methods applying a constant stress, higher than the use condition stress, to items. There we, however, situations for which a progressive stress ALT, in which the stress on a test item is continuously increased with time, Is more convenient to perform testing and simpler in analyzing data than a constant stress ALT. When a product under constant stress s follows a Weibull distribution with parameters $\theta$(5) and $\beta$, maximum likelihood(ML) estimators of parameters involved in the model are obtained and their asymptotic distributions are derived under stress bounded ramp tests in which the stress is increased linearly from use condition stress to the stress upper bound. The optimum test plans are also found which minimize the asymptotic variance of the ML estimator of the log mean life at design constant stress. For selected values of the design parameters, tables useful for finding optimal test plans are given. The effect of the pre-estimates of design parameters is studied.