Reliability Prediction of Complex Assemblies

[SteveTIB]

We are looking for a more efficient way of making reliability projections. When our systems can be made up of hundreds of component parts, getting this data from suppliers, regardless of what is on the PO's, is excrusiatingly painful and time consuming!

Rather than trying to collect, enter, calculate and analyze the data for all the individual component parts when calculating our machine/system reliability projections, I would like to use "family" i.e., part type, data for commodity/catalogue parts.

I have run across databases that contain "thousdands" of parts in them on some web sites, e.g. the DoD's Reliability Analysis Center's (RAC) NPRD-95C Nonelectronic Parts Reliability Data http://rac.iitri.org , but am skeptical of their content and usefulness for my application.

Does anyone have any experience using any of these databases of reliability data or have alternative suggestions for making reliability projections?

[Marc]

I'm going to bump this once and see if there are any good reliability engineers out there who might be able to help. I was involved in reliability about 15 years ago and I really don't remember much except the base calculations. We did some reliability predictions but used Advanced Life Testing for our stated figures (US Military / DoD products - including aerospace and marine electronics). This is what I wrote Environmental Design Criteria Test Plans for.

[Marc]

You might try the IEST site for some info on reliability. I'm surprised there aren't at least 1 or 2 folks here who are proficient in reliability predictions. Oh, well!

An FYI

March 1, 2002

Dear IEST colleague,

The meeting will take place at the Disneyland Hotel in Anaheim, California
April 28- May 1.

Don't forget to take advantage of early-bird registration rates for ESTECH
2002 and the 16th ICCCS! Early-bird registration savings valid only if accompanied by full payment for all fees, postmarked, faxed, or submitted online by March 15, 2002.

Don't forget we have a wide variety of tutorials!

Contamination Control includes:

- Implementation of clean manufacturing facilities
- New IEST standard on Product Cleanliness Levels and Contamination
Control Program. IEST-STD-CC1246D
- The Particle Cleanliness Validation System (PCVS)
- Basic and advanced particle adhesion and cleaning technology in the
semiconductor, FPD, and disk drive industries
- Upcoming International Standard for Biocontamination
Control: ISO 14698-1 and -2
- Fundamentals of Contamination Control Technology

Design, Test, and Evaluation / Product Reliability includes:

- Fundamentals of Vibration Testing
- Environment Chamber Control
- Life Cycle Environment Profiles (LCEPs)
- Modern Methodology in Reliability Analysis and Testing of Electrical
and Mechanical Systems
- Spectrum Analysis
- Basic Vibration Fixture Design

Follow this link to registration and hotel information.
http://www.iest.org/estech/estech.htm

Thanks!
Julie Kendrick, CAE
Executive Director