CRITERIA FOR THE ASSESSMENT OF RELIABILITY MODELS

Reliability predictions are often used as the basis for important busi ness decisions, including parts selection, environmental controls, qua lification plans, warranties, maintenance plans, and spare requirement s, Before a production can be trusted for use, especially in applicati ons requiring high reliability and safety, it must be carefully assess ed for validity, In other words, reliability models should only be emp loyed once they are judged to be reliable themselves. It is thus imper ative that they satisfy an established set of assessment criteria befo re being applied to electronic products. This paper establishes the mi nimum criteria needed to assess the value of a reliability model, The criteria emphasize the influence of environmental and operational stre sses; variabilities in failure mechanisms, modes, and sites; design pa rameters; manufacturing processes and defects; and the statistical dis tribution of failures. If a model satisfies the criteria, it can be ce rtified as robust enough to provide competent assessments, As an examp le, the criteria are used to assess various microcircuit reliability m odels.