Accelerated Reliability Growth Test Method

Accelerated Life Testing (ALT) and Reliability Growth Testing (RGT) are summaried. Based on the analysis, the theory and testing methods of Accelerated Reliability Growth Testing (ARGT) are presented in the paper.At first, the energy expression is presented for failure mechanism, and it is applied in Accelerated Life Testing and Accelerated Reliability Growth Testing. The conditions of common failure mechanism are obtained. The essential relation between the conditions and Accelerated Factor (Af) is proposed by the energy model.Secondly, an advanced reliability growth model is presented for multi-systems synchronous development, which takes data in the growth progress into consideration sufficiently. The nonparametric method is employed to attain the reliability at each censored time of the synchronous multi-systems. In the presented method, the point estimations of the model parameters, aandb in the new model, are given by the least square method. The confidence interval for the parameter b is given as well. An engineering illustration is used to compare the result of the presented method with those of AMSAA-BISE model and DUANE model. It is shown that the result of the presented method fits that of AMSAA-BISE model rather well, and two models are suitable to estimate the reliability growth for the multi-systems synchronous development.Then the testing method of constant stress Accelerated Reliability Growth Testing is given on the basis of AMSAA-BISE model.At last, based on AMSAA model, the sequential testing approach is presented by Bayesian method, while testing analysis and evaluation in small-sample circumstances is taken into account. And the optimal sample size is evaluated in given testing circumstances.