Commercial Parts Technology Qualification Processes: Qualification Techniques Utilized by Electronics Manufacturers for High Reliability Medical and Automotive Systems

Rapid advances in commercial part technologies present opportunities for improvements in performance and improvements in smaller size and lower weight new high reliability (including space) system design. To develop appropriate techniques to ensure high reliability in these applications, techniques used in the high reliability space, medical and automotive electronics industry to develop and utilize new commercial technology are surveyed and compared. Reliability concerns are enumerated and traced to fundamental physical failure mechanisms. The relationships between these potential failure mechanisms and various reliability and qualification tests are clearly described and evaluated. Appropriate Risk Mitigation methods are selected that have been developed from these industries and compared for cost, schedule and effectiveness. Since these industries product many new advanced electronics devices, part manufacturers often have relevant test data available which may be used by new space system designers to evaluate probable long term reliability of new technology to provide best value and reliability to their customers.