A BAYES APPROACH TO STEP-STRESS ACCELERATED LIFE TESTING

Summ. & Conclusions - This paper develops a Raves model for step-stres s accelerated life testing. The failure times at each stress level are exponentially distributed, but strict adherence to a time-transformat ion function is not required. Rather, prior information is used to def ine indirectly a multivariate prior distribution for the failure rates at the various stress levels. Our prior distribution preserves the na tural ordering of the failure rates in both the prior gr posterior est imates. Methods are developed for Bayes point estimates as well as for making probability statements for use-stress life parameters. The app roach is illustrated with an example.