Knowledge Based Qualification Process to Evaluate Vibration Induced Failures in Electronic Components

Electronic products used in autonomous vehicles can be subjected to harsh road conditions. Transportation induced vibration is one such reliability risk to be addressed as part of qualification. Vibration use data and reliability models are very extensively studied for fully packaged systems exposed to vibration risks during shipping. MIL-STD-810G and ISTA4AB are some of the industry standards that address these risks. On the other hand, USCAR-2 and GMW-3172 are couple of standards that may be more relevant for electronics used in automotive applications, where electronic components are exposed to vibration risks during their entire lifetime. Even though the usage model and duration for fully packaged systems in shipping and automotive electronics are different, the source of energy (road conditions), driving the risks are similar. The industry standards based damage model appear to be generic, covering a wide variety of products. In this paper, a knowledge based qualification (KBQ) framework, is used to map use conditions to accelerated test requirements for two failure modes: solder joint fatigue and socket contact fretting. The mechanisms chosen are distinct with different damage metric and drivers. The KBQ obtained qualification requirements were discussed relative to standard requirement with the objective to verify how well industry standard models reflect field reliability risks. For the chosen failure mechanisms and use condition data, it was observed that the industry standards lead to erroneous conclusions about vibration risk in the field.