Holistic view of the reliability prediction using the example of steering electronics

Abstract:
Exemplary examinations of selected reliability standards show that these are, in part, strongly outdated and that new applications and technologies (e.g. electromobility, semiconductor processes) are not taken into account with the mission profiles currently used. In addition, due to the steadily decreasing structural size of the semiconductors used, a description of the failure behaviour is required by means of mathematical models of fault physics instead of today's "experience of failure" standards. The thermal loading of the steering electronics during operation by the end customer is determined by a representative test study on public roads and the extension with measurements in a thermal wind tunnel. The calculation of constant failure rates based on the number of failures in a known sample size from a life test is recapitulated. Furthermore, the potentials for the combined use of field failure data and data of still functioning products are presented. Together with the statistically based temperature collective, a realistic prediction of the failure rate can be achieved.