Life Cycle Reliability Engineering

As the Lead Reliability Engineer for Ford Motor Company, Guangbin Yang is involved with all aspects of the design and production of complex automotive systems. Focusing on real-world problems and solutions, Life Cycle Reliability Engineering covers the gamut of the techniques used for reliability assurance throughout a product's life cycle. Yang pulls real-world examples from his work and other industries to explain the methods of robust design (designing reliability into a product or system ahead of time), statistical and real product testing, software testing, and ultimately verification and warranting of the final product's reliability

DR. GUANGBIN YANG is a Reliability Technical Expert at Ford Motor Company. He is Chair of the Automotive Systems Committee of the IEEE Reliability Society and was the recipient of the Society's Engineer of the Year Award for 2002. A recognized leader in areas of reliability and quality, he has published numerous articles in technical journals.

Preface.
1. Reliability Engineering and Product Life Cycle.
1.1.Reliability Engineering.
1.2.Product Life Cycle.
1.3.Integration of Reliability Engineering into Product Life Cycle.
1.4.Reliability in Concurrent Product Realization Process.
Problems.
2. Reliability Definition, Metrics and Product Life Distributions.
2.1.Introduction.
2.2.Reliability Definition.
2.3. Reliability Metrics.
2.4.Exponential Distribution.
2.5.Weibull Distribution.
2.6.Mixed Weibull Distribution.
2.7.Smallest Extreme Value Distribution.
2.8.Normal Distribution.
2.9.Lognormal distribution.
Problems.
3. Reliability Planning and Specification.
3.1.Introduction.
3.2.Understanding Customer Expectations and Satisfaction.
3.3.Setting Reliability Requirements.
3.4.Reliability Program Development.
3.5.Reliability Design and Design for Six Sigma.
Problems.
4. System Reliability Evaluation and Allocation.
4.1.Introduction.
4.2.Reliability Block Diagram.
4.3.Series Systems.
4.4.Parallel Systems.
4.5.Mixed Configurations.
4.6.k-out-of-n Systems.
4.7.Redundant Systems.
4.8.Reliability Evaluation of Complex Systems.
4.9.Confidence Intervals for System Reliability.
4.10. Measures of Component Importance.
4.11. Reliability Allocation.
Problems.
5. Reliability Improvement Through Robust Design.
5.1.Introduction.
5.2.Reliability and Robustness.
5.3.Reliability Degradation and Quality Loss.
5.4.Robust Design Process.
5.5.Boundary Definition and Interaction Analysis.
5.6.P-Diagram.
5.7.Noise Effects Management.
5.8.Design of Experiments.
5.9.Experimental Life Data Analysis.
5.10. Experimental Degradation Data Analysis.
5.11. Design Optimization.
5.12. Robust Reliability Design of Diagnostic Systems.
5.13. A Case Study.
5.14. Advanced Topics on Robust Design.
Appendix: Orthogonal Arrays, Linear Graphs and Interaction Tables.
Problems.
6. Potential Failure Mode Avoidance.
6.1.Introduction.
6.2.Failure Mode and Effects Analysis.
6.3.Advanced Topics on FMEA.
6.4.Fault Tree Analysis.
6.5.Advanced Topics on FTA.
6.6.Computer-Aided Design Controls.
Problems.
7. Accelerated Life Tests.
7.1.Introduction.
7.2.Development of Test Plans.
7.3.Common Stresses and Their Effects.
7.4.Life-Stress Relationships.
7.5.Graphical Reliability Estimation at Individual Test Conditions.
7.6.Analytical Reliability Estimation at Individual Test Conditions.
7.7.Reliability Estimation at Use Condition.
7.8.Compromise Test Plans.
7.9.Highly Accelerated Life Tests.
Problems.
8. Degradation Testing and Analysis.
8.1.Introduction.
8.2.Determination of Critical Performance Characteristic.
8.3.Reliability Estimation from Pseudo Life.
8.4.Degradation Analysis with Random-Effect Models.
8.5.Degradation Analysis for Destructive Inspections.
8.6.Stress-Accelerated Degradation Tests.
8.7.Accelerated Degradation Tests with Tightened Thresholds.
8.8.Accelerated Degradation Test Planning.
Problems.
9. Reliability Verification Testing.
9.1.Introduction.
9.2.Planning Reliability Verification Tests.
9.3.Bogey Testing.
9.4.Sample Size Reduction by Tail-Testing.
9.5.Sequential Life Testing.
9.6.Reliability Verification Using Prior Information.
9.7.Reliability Verification Through Degradation Testing.
Problems.
10. Stress Screening.
10.1 .Introduction.
10.2 . Concept of Screening Techniques.
10.3 . Design of Screen Plans.
10.4 .Principle of Degradation Screening.
10.5 .Part-Level Degradation Screening.
10.6 .Module-Level Screening.
10.7 .Module Reliability Modeling.
10.8 .Cost Modeling.
10.9 .Optimal Screen Plans.
Problems.
11. Warranty Analysis.
11.1. Introduction.
11.2. Warranty Policies.
11.3. Warranty Data Mining.
11.4. Reliability Estimation from Warranty Claim Times.
11.5. Two-Dimensional Reliability Estimation.
11.6. Warranty Repair Modeling.
11.7. Warranty Cost Estimation.
11.8. Field Failure Monitoring.
11.9. Warranty Cost Reduction.
Problems.
Appendix: Orthogonal Arrays, Linear Graphs, and Interaction Tables.
References.
Index.