Improving the Fatigue Design of Mechanical Systems Such as Refrigerator

To get better the fatigue life of mechanical system such as automobile, parametric Accelerated Life Testing (ALT) as new organized reliability method proposes to evaluate the design of mechanical systems subjected to repeated loads, based on failure mechanism and design. It covers: (1) parametric ALT scheme based on product BX life, (2) load investigation for ALT, (3) a tailored sample of ALTs with the modifications, and (4) a judge of whether the product design(s) attains the objective BX life. So, we suggest a generalized life-stress failure model with a new effort concept, accelerated factor (AF), and sample size with AF. This new parametric ALT might help engineer detect the design flaws of the mechanical product influencing reliability during the design phase. As the inappropriate design parameters are identified by experiment, the mechanical product should improve in reliability as measured by the increase in lifetime, LB, and the lowering in failure rate, λ. As a result, companies can avoid recalls due to the field failures. As a test case, two cases were studied: (1) reciprocating compressors of French-door refrigerators failed from the marketplace and (2) the redesign of hinge kit system (HKS) in a domestic refrigerator. After a tailored of parametric ALT, the mechanical products such as domestic compressor and HKS with corrective action plans were anticipated to fulfill the life target—B1 life 10 years.