On thermodynamic reliability engineering

Section I contains: Thermodynamics: A fundamental science for physics-of-fa ilure. Although reliability mathematics is well established, having probabi lity theory as its basic tool, the reliability science for physics-of-failu re lacks a basic foundation. Thermodynamics is a natural candidate. Many en gineers do not realize how closely thermodynamics is tied to reliability, b ecause these subjects are treated separately. This section applies the laws of thermodynamics and reliability theory to illustrate the key aspects tha t link these sciences into "thermodynamic reliability engineering" which he lps to understand the reliability physics-of-failure problems. Section II: contains: Aging mechanisms and derivations of key physics-of-fa ilure equations used in accelerated testing and reliability analysis, Irrev ersible mechanisms that cause aging are discussed (using a thermodynamic fr amework) along with key physics-of-failure reliability models related to ag ing. In so doing we derive key physics-of-failure time-compression equation s used in reliability stemming from Minor's hypothesis, the Coffin-Manson p ower law Peck's humidity model, and diffusion methods. Section III contains: Time-dependent parametric aging associated with activ ated processes, When thermal activation is the rate-controlling process, Ar rhenius rate kinetics apply, The parametric time-dependence of an Arrhenius mechanism is addressed and leads to predictable time-dependent aging for c ertain measurable parameters, Our earlier work developed a thermally: activ ated time-dependent model. This paper describes the shape of the free energ y aging path in that model. The results are illustrated for some problems i n microelectronics.