Whenever you cook a meal, you first taste it and make adjustments when it does not taste as it should. You can add a pinch of salt to taste, more slurry to thicken the sauce, and simmer for a few more minutes to soften the meat before serving it to your family or guests. It is perhaps the simplest example of reliability test services.
Similar to cooking, an electronic product undergoes a “taste test” before hitting the market. These taste tests are called burn in system and reliability tests. Without them, you might end up like Elon Musk’s Cybertruck’s Unbreakable Window demo mishap.
All You Need To Know About Reliability Testing
All products, as small as smartphones or as humongous as trucks, undergo a series of arduous tests. These exams are called reliability tests provided byreliability test services.
1. Why do manufacturers conduct reliability tests?
Reliability testing has been a crucial part of designing products. Manufacturers conduct reliability testing primarily for quality assurance.
Here are the reasons why manufacturers impose reliability testing:
● Determine design weakness
There will always be design faults, especially if you are making a product from scratch.
For example, a tablet that turns into a smartphone when folded may be convenient, at the same time, a space-saver for users. However, the fold crease may have crevices where water can seep through when dipped into a puddle or tub.
● Spot defects
Apart from the design weakness, there can also be faulty materials and systems. How many cars have been recalled on the roads because of the airbags that don’t work?
Besides theautomotive burn in test,spotting a defect is a part of assuring the quality of the product. The manufacturers either change the entire component with a new one or improve it to meet the standards.
● Determine the durability
There is no other way to determine the product’s durability than by tossing it in extreme environmental conditions. An environmental chamber can be adjusted to increase temperature, humidity, pressure, and so on. After all, these are the environment users belong to in some circumstances.
● Determine the life expectancy
Have you ever wondered how manufacturers know how long their products last or why they are confident in giving warranties to their products? It is because they already used their products until they wear out using anHTRB systemto determine their life expectancy.
● Gain approval
Besides electronic components, non-electronic components also undergoreliability and quality test services. The perfect example would be medicine and vaccines.
For example, before pharmaceutical companies made their COVID-19 vaccines available to the public, they underwent several tests and trials to ensure their safety. If they get promising trial and test results, health and drug boards from different countries will grant them approval.
2. What are the different types of reliability testing?
Reliability testing types are different and unique depending on the product. But here are the most common tests yourreliability test servicesmay offer you:
● Discovery testing
The chief purpose of this testing is to determine the limit or boundary of the product on different stresses, conditions, and pressure applied to them.
For example, what will happen if you put a smartphone in anenvironmental chamber with high pressure? Would it explode? What happens if you overcharge your phone?
● Life testing
Life testing determines the durability and life expectancy of the product. Its purpose is to know how long the component can last while working correctly after a number of usage cycles.
You can try life testing on your razor by counting how many shaves it can take until its blade becomes blunt, rough, and dull.
● Environmental testing
The purpose of environment testing is to determine how well the product operates under different environmental conditions.Reliability test services conduct these exams in an environmental chamberandHTRB system.
For example, before families replace their stainless steel and aluminium kitchen tools with plastic ones, manufacturers would put polypropylene, the primary material for plastic kitchen utensils, under extremely high temperatures.
It ensures that the product would not melt no matter how long cooks use them in the kitchen.
● Regulatory testing
Regulatory testing involves governing bodies and authorities. Besides the manufacturer’s ownreliability testing services, the product must also pass the tests designed by the regulatory boards.
If the product fails, it cannot hit the market.
3. Why do products fail reliability testing?
It is almost impossible for a product to pass reliability testing on the first try, especially if it is made from scratch and no research on improvement has been done.
Here are the reasons why products fail the burn in system and reliability testing:
● Poor design
Design issues are the most common cause why products fail reliability testing. Besides aesthetics, manufacturers must consider functionality and durability when designing a product.
Reliability test serviceshelp manufacturers determine their product’s design weaknesses.
● Quality issues
There can also be issues with the materials used. For example, a lower grade copper in wires burns faster than the higher-grade ones.
Getting high-quality raw materials from a reliable and reputable supplier is one of the ways to improve the quality of the products.
● Manufacturing and assembling mistakes
The design might be impeccable, and the materials are top-tier, but the way the products are assembled and manufactured together can still cause the finished product to fail.
Human errors are likely to happen on the field. They may be soldering the electronic components improperly, causing the product to fail theburn in system.
● Storing and environmental issues
The design is impeccable, the materials are top-tier, and the manufacturing process is above the standard, but the way manufacturers store the products may affect their quality.
It is vital to store the products properly in the right environmental conditions.
● Rigged testing
Sometimes the problem is on the reliability testing themselves. Some rogue manufacturers are in cahoots with dubiousreliability testing servicesto falsify results.
The testing procedures may be incompetent and outdated against the current market standards. It may need new benchmarking.
Conclusion
Reliability testing is one of the reasons why more than half of the objects you use every day, from your smartphone to your car, are safe. Without reliability test services, there could be more people harmed by faulty machines, devices, and equipment.
Trio-Tech International
Don’t you have your own lab for an automotive burn in test? Let Trio-Tech International help you with their reliability test services.
