Optimal design of constant‐stress accelerated degradation tests based on the Wiener process with manufacturing batches heterogeneity and individual differences

• Published in: Quality and reliability engineering international 2024-06, Vol.40 (4), p.1743-1759
• Main Authors: Li, Nianhuan, Gu, Dongwei, Chen, Bingkun, Li, Weiliang, Zhao, Xilu, Chen, Pengfei
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Accelerated tests; constant‐stress accelerated degradation test; Degradation; Heterogeneity; individual differences; Manufacturing; manufacturing batches heterogeneity; Mean time to failure; optimal design; Particle swarm optimization; Reliability analysis; Sensitivity analysis; Testing time; Wiener process
• ISSN: 0748-8017; 1099-1638
• DOI: 10.1002/qre.3488

The use of Constant‐stress accelerated degradation tests (CSADT) modeling is an effective way to assess the reliability of products. However, when conducting reliability experiments, the data collected may come from various sources such as different manufacturing batches, equipment, and operators. This can result in reduced accuracy of the test evaluations. In this research paper, we propose optimal designs for the Wiener constant‐stress accelerated degradation model that take into account the heterogeneity of manufacturing batches and individual differences. Our goal is to minimize the variability of the mean time to failure (MTTF) while working within a specified budget, test time, and available test units. To achieve this, we utilize particle swarm optimization (PSO) to find the best solution based on a complex objective function. We also compare our model with others using degradation data from LEDs, showing that our model has a better goodness‐of‐fit. Finally, we present examples of optimal CSADT plans under different constraints and conduct sensitivity analysis.