Os sistemas de medição são projetados para obter uma capabilidade de acordo com as exigências do cliente final ou especificações de engenharia. Esta capabilidade deve ser mantida através de manutenções preventivas e calibrações. Este estudo apresenta um procedimento, onde se determina a capabilidade do sistema de medição utilizando o MSA (Measurement System Analisys). Obtendo a capabilidade, a confiabilidade das medições obtidas do sistema de medição é estimada, considerando como falha a perda da capabilidade obtida. Os tempos estimados de falha são obtidos em testes de vida acelerados utilizando como sobrecarga o aumento da temperatura e extrapolando os tempos de falha para condição de uso através dos modelos de Arrhenius-exponencial, Arrenius-Weibull e Arrhenius-lognormal. O MTTF é calculado para estimação dos tempos de manutenção e calibração do sistema de medição. Uma aplicação do procedimento proposto é realizada em um equipamento protótipo de medição do número de Swirl desenvolvido com uma nova tecnologia de medição mais rápida e precisa em relação aos existentes no mercado. O estudo avalia a capabilidade do equipamento de medição de Swril e posteriormente estima tempos de falha para obter a confiabilidade das medições obtidas e o tempo necessário para sua manutenção. / The measuring systems are designed to achieve a capability according to the requirements from the end customer or engineering specifications. This capability must be maintained through preventive maintenance and calibration. This study presents a procedure, where the measurement system capability is determined using the MSA (Measurement System Analyzes). Obtaining the capability, the reliability of the measurements obtained from the measurement system is estimated, considering as failure the loss of the capability obtained. An estimated failure times are obtained in accelerated life tests using the temperature increase as an overloading and extrapolating the failure times to condition of use through the Arrhenius-exponential, Arrenius-Weibull and Arrhenius-lognormal models. The MTTF is calculated to estimate the maintenance and calibration times for the measurement system. An application of the proposed procedure is carried out on a prototype equipment to measure the Swirl number developed with a new measurement technology faster and more accurate than others available on the market. The study evaluates the capability of equipment to measure the Swirl number and then estimates failure times to obtain the reliability of measurements obtained and the time required for their maintenance.

This research describes a proposed accelerated testing procedure for evaluating pavement patching materials under the simulation of traffic loading and environmental conditions such as freeze-thaw cycles. Potholes were constructed in concrete blocks with different tilt angles (13¢ª, 17¢ª and 22¢ª) to simulate normal and shear wheel surface stresses. Different patching materials, including hot mix, cold mix and commercial cold patch were tested. Various cyclic loads accompanied with cycles of freezing and thawing were applied to the patch. Patch performance is assessed by visual monitoring of the surface distresses and measuring surface elevation for rutting and shoving determination. Applied vertical loads varied between 2,250 and 4,500 pounds at a frequency of 2 Hz. Patch performance comparisons were made as a function of the patch mix, applied load, number of applied loads, frequency of loading, and applied freeze/thaw cycles. The new method of accelerated testing is successful in differentiating the performance of good and poor quality mixes. The proposed test could be used as a reliable method by state highway agencies for establishing acceptance criteria for selecting pothole patching mixtures.

The NIST miniature paste prism test was developed to assess sulphate resistance of cements faster than the commonly used ASTM C 1012 test. The goal of this research is to address the current limitations regarding the NIST procedure to determine the optimum testing parameters and to establish appropriate expansion limits. A range of variables including details of specimen design, curing regime, water-to-cementitious materials ratio, and prism length were tested on the materials with a wide range of sulphate performance. The findings of the study demonstrate that even though it can yield results in only three months, the NIST test can provide an erroneous differentiation between certain cementitious materials. Reliability and repeatability of the test results can be improved by using longer specimens and longer curing times. The NIST test can be used as a preliminary screening test, but users need to be aware of its limitations.

The NIST miniature paste prism test was developed to assess sulphate resistance of cements faster than the commonly used ASTM C 1012 test. The goal of this research is to address the current limitations regarding the NIST procedure to determine the optimum testing parameters and to establish appropriate expansion limits. A range of variables including details of specimen design, curing regime, water-to-cementitious materials ratio, and prism length were tested on the materials with a wide range of sulphate performance. The findings of the study demonstrate that even though it can yield results in only three months, the NIST test can provide an erroneous differentiation between certain cementitious materials. Reliability and repeatability of the test results can be improved by using longer specimens and longer curing times. The NIST test can be used as a preliminary screening test, but users need to be aware of its limitations.

Tidal Energy is one of the growing renewable energy technologies that is aimed at tackling global energy challenges. The Horizontal Axis Tidal Turbine (HATT) is an in-stream Tidal Energy Converter (TEC) which extracts kinetic energy from tidal flows. These tidal turbines face many reliability challenges due to their complexity, harsh operating environment and low accessibility. One of the component contributing significantly to the reliability of a TEC is the bearing supporting the rotating shaft within the nacelle. The reliability assessment of this component is essential during the design process and before their eventual deployments. This work is describes shaft bearing reliability assessment procedures. In recent years, the Offshore Renewable Energy (ORE) Catapult’s National Renewable Energy Centre has developed a dedicated multi axis test facility for full scale testing of tidal turbine nacelles and components (i.e. Nautilus). This work presents a methodology for testing tidal turbine shaft bearings in a representative manner in the full scale nacelle test rig, Nautilus. Two aspects are considered, namely the damage assessment and the damage replication in an accelerated manner. The damage assessment process considers the global loading on the shaft bearing and a Rigid Dynamics (RD) model has been applied to identify the local bearing loads. Local loads are converted to stress enabling the identification of stress-life relationship and bearing damage. The damage replication process is aimed to evaluate the 20 year damage and the Acceleration by Phase-shift (AbP) method has been developed to accelerate the cumulative damage. The AbP method enables the assessment of performance characteristics of shaft bearings in a laboratory environment, reducing failure rates, validate performance in a cost effective manner by reduced testing times. Within this work, novel processes for shaft bearing reliability assessments and demonstration are suggested and it concludes with the presentation of a recommended test plan for carrying out accelerated tests on a full scale bearing.

Os sistemas de medição são projetados para obter uma capabilidade de acordo com as exigências do cliente final ou especificações de engenharia. Esta capabilidade deve ser mantida através de manutenções preventivas e calibrações. Este estudo apresenta um procedimento, onde se determina a capabilidade do sistema de medição utilizando o MSA (Measurement System Analisys). Obtendo a capabilidade, a confiabilidade das medições obtidas do sistema de medição é estimada, considerando como falha a perda da capabilidade obtida. Os tempos estimados de falha são obtidos em testes de vida acelerados utilizando como sobrecarga o aumento da temperatura e extrapolando os tempos de falha para condição de uso através dos modelos de Arrhenius-exponencial, Arrenius-Weibull e Arrhenius-lognormal. O MTTF é calculado para estimação dos tempos de manutenção e calibração do sistema de medição. Uma aplicação do procedimento proposto é realizada em um equipamento protótipo de medição do número de Swirl desenvolvido com uma nova tecnologia de medição mais rápida e precisa em relação aos existentes no mercado. O estudo avalia a capabilidade do equipamento de medição de Swril e posteriormente estima tempos de falha para obter a confiabilidade das medições obtidas e o tempo necessário para sua manutenção. / The measuring systems are designed to achieve a capability according to the requirements from the end customer or engineering specifications. This capability must be maintained through preventive maintenance and calibration. This study presents a procedure, where the measurement system capability is determined using the MSA (Measurement System Analyzes). Obtaining the capability, the reliability of the measurements obtained from the measurement system is estimated, considering as failure the loss of the capability obtained. An estimated failure times are obtained in accelerated life tests using the temperature increase as an overloading and extrapolating the failure times to condition of use through the Arrhenius-exponential, Arrenius-Weibull and Arrhenius-lognormal models. The MTTF is calculated to estimate the maintenance and calibration times for the measurement system. An application of the proposed procedure is carried out on a prototype equipment to measure the Swirl number developed with a new measurement technology faster and more accurate than others available on the market. The study evaluates the capability of equipment to measure the Swirl number and then estimates failure times to obtain the reliability of measurements obtained and the time required for their maintenance.

abstract: This dissertation presents methods for addressing research problems that currently can only adequately be solved using Quality Reliability Engineering (QRE) approaches especially accelerated life testing (ALT) of electronic printed wiring boards with applications to avionics circuit boards. The methods presented in this research are generally applicable to circuit boards, but the data generated and their analysis is for high performance avionics. Avionics equipment typically requires 20 years expected life by aircraft equipment manufacturers and therefore ALT is the only practical way of performing life test estimates. Both thermal and vibration ALT induced failure are performed and analyzed to resolve industry questions relating to the introduction of lead-free solder product and processes into high reliability avionics. In chapter 2, thermal ALT using an industry standard failure machine implementing Interconnect Stress Test (IST) that simulates circuit board life data is compared to real production failure data by likelihood ratio tests to arrive at a mechanical theory. This mechanical theory results in a statistically equivalent energy bound such that failure distributions below a specific energy level are considered to be from the same distribution thus allowing testers to quantify parameter setting in IST prior to life testing. In chapter 3, vibration ALT comparing tin-lead and lead-free circuit board solder designs involves the use of the likelihood ratio (LR) test to assess both complete failure data and S-N curves to present methods for analyzing data. Failure data is analyzed using Regression and two-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) and reconciled with the LR test results that indicating that a costly aging pre-process may be eliminated in certain cases. In chapter 4, vibration ALT for side-by-side tin-lead and lead-free solder black box designs are life tested. Commercial models from strain data do not exist at the low levels associated with life testing and need to be developed because testing performed and presented here indicate that both tin-lead and lead-free solders are similar. In addition, earlier failures due to vibration like connector failure modes will occur before solder interconnect failures. / Dissertation/Thesis / Ph.D. Industrial Engineering 2012

abstract: The popularity of solar photovoltaic (PV) energy is growing across the globe with more than 500 GW installed in 2018 with a capacity of 640 GW in 2019. Improved PV module reliability minimizes the levelized cost of energy. Studying and accelerating encapsulant browning and solder bond degradation—two of the most commonly observed degradation modes in the field—in a lab requires replicating the stress conditions that induce the same field degradation modes in a controlled accelerated environment to reduce testing time. Accelerated testing is vital in learning about the reliability of solar PV modules. The unique streamlined approach taken saves time and resources with a statistically significant number of samples being tested in one chamber under multiple experimental stress conditions that closely mirror field conditions that induce encapsulant browning and solder bond degradation. With short circuit current (Isc) and series resistance (Rs) degradation data sets at multiple temperatures, the activation energies (Ea) for encapsulant browning and solder bond degradation was calculated. Regular degradation was replaced by the wear-out stages of encapsulant browning and solder bond degradation by subjecting two types of field-aged modules to further accelerated testing. For browning, the Ea calculated through the Arrhenius model was 0.37 ± 0.17 eV and 0.71 ± 0.07 eV. For solder bond degradation, the Arrhenius model was used to calculate an Ea of 0.12 ± 0.05 eV for solder with 2wt% Ag and 0.35 ± 0.04 eV for Sn60Pb40 solder. To study the effect of types of encapsulant, backsheet, and solder on encapsulant browning and solder bond degradation, 9-cut-cell samples maximizing available data points while minimizing resources underwent accelerated tests described for modules. A ring-like browning feature was observed in samples with UV pass EVA above and UV cut EVA below the cells. The backsheet permeability influences the extent of oxygen photo-bleaching. In samples with solder bond degradation, increased bright spots and cell darkening resulted in increased Rs. Combining image processing with fluorescence imaging and electroluminescence imaging would yield great insight into the two degradation modes. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Systems Engineering 2020

abstract: The primary goal of this thesis is to evaluate the influence of ethyl vinyl acetate (EVA) and polyolefin elastomer (POE) encapsulant types on the glass-glass (GG) photovoltaic (PV) module reliability. The influence of these two encapsulant types on the reliability of GG modules was compared with baseline glass-polymer backsheet (GB) modules for a benchmarking purpose. Three sets of modules, with four modules in each set, were constructed with two substrates types i.e. glass-glass (GG) and glass- polymer backsheet (GB); and 2 encapsulants types i.e. ethyl vinyl acetate (EVA) and polyolefin elastomer (POE). Each module set was subjected to the following accelerated tests as specified in the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) standard and Qualification Plus protocol of NREL: Ultraviolet (UV) 250 kWh/m2; Thermal Cycling (TC) 200 cycles; Damp Heat (DH) 1250 hours. To identify the failure modes and reliability issues of the stressed modules, several module-level non-destructive characterizations were carried out and they include colorimetry, UV-Vis-NIR spectral reflectance, ultraviolet fluorescence (UVF) imaging, electroluminescence (EL) imaging, and infrared (IR) imaging. The above-mentioned characterizations were performed on the front side of the modules both before the stress tests (i.e. pre-stress) and after the stress tests (i.e. post-stress). The UV-250 extended stress results indicated slight changes in the reflectance on the non-cell area of EVA modules probably due to minor adhesion loss at the cell and module edges. From the DH-1250 extended stress tests, significant changes, in both encapsulant types modules, were observed in reflectance and UVF images indicating early stages of delamination. In the case of the TC-200 stress test, practically no changes were observed in all sets of modules. From the above short-term stress tests, it appears although not conclusive at this stage of the analysis, delamination seems to be the only failure mode that could possibly be affecting the module performance, as observed from UV and DH extended stress tests. All these stress tests need to be continued to identify the wear-out failure modes and their impacts on the performance parameters of PV modules. / Dissertation/Thesis / Masters Thesis Mechanical Engineering 2020

Tooling reliability is critical to welding success in friction stir welding, but tooling fatigue is not well understood because it occurs in conditions that are often unique to friction stir welding. A fatigue study was conducted on a commonly used tooling material, H13 tool steel, using constant stress loading at temperatures between 300°C and 600°C, and the results are presented. A model is proposed accounting for temperature and stress effects on fatigue life, utilizing a two-region Arrhenius temperature model. A transition in temperature effect on fatigue life is identified. Implications of the temperature effect for friction stir welding suggest that tooling fatigue life dramatically decreases above 500°C and accelerated testing should be conducted below 500°C.