A REVIEW OF RECENT RESEARCH AND CURRENT ISSUES IN ACCELERATED TESTING

Accelerated tests are used to obtain timely information on the life distribution or performance over time of products. Test units are used more frequently than usual or are subjected to higher than usual levels of stress or stresses like temperature and voltage. Then the results are used to make predictions about product life or performance over time at the more moderate use or design conditions. Changes in technology, the calls for rapid product development, and the need to continuously improve product reliability have put new demands on the applications for these tests. In this paper we briefly review the basic statistical and other ideas behind accelerated testing and give an overview of some current and planned statistical research to improve accelerated test planning and methods.