Mechanical systems wear out and fail eventually. The ability of a structure to support a load, move though the specified range of motion, or spin degrades with use and time. Even our joints eventually wear out.

Accelerated life testing (ALT) has value as it provides information about a system’s reliability performance in the future. There is plenty of ALT literature concerning the failure mechanisms unique to electronic components and materials but less has been written about mechanical reliability testing. Continue reading →