Prototype Testing and Accelerated Testing

As part of the series development of a product emergence process, prototype testingPrototype testing plays a decisive role in analyzing the technical reliability of a product at a certain stage of development. The present chapter is first devoted to the fundamentals of accelerated testing (Sect. 14.1). Afterwards, important models are presented which can be used in the planning and analysis of accelerated testing activities, e.g. Arrhenius model, Wöhler test, Coffin-Manson model; Sect. 14.2. Furthermore, the number of prototypes (sample size) to be tested is of central importance in the planning of a test; Sect. 14.3 shows two approaches for determining a minimum sample size. A case study of accelerated testing using the Weibull distribution model and corresponding data analysis is shown in Sect. 14.4. Qualitative accelerated testing using the Highly Accelerated Life Test (HALT) and Highly Accelerated Stress Screening (HASS) methods is the focus of Sect. 14.5.