Testing 101: Reliability, Design Validation, Component-Level Testing, & Factory Testing

When you build products - whether it be a consumer electronic product, appliance, medical device, or spacecraft equipment - the general testing logic is similar. Here’s an introduction to the process of test planning & execution.

  1. Reliability Testing
  2. Design Validation Testing
  3. Component Testing - Systems Integration (EE) & Vendor Level
  4. Factory Testing

https://www.dfrsolutions.com/blog/identifying-common-electronic-failures#:~:text=In%20the%20electronics%20industry%2C%20failure,board%20location%20is%20functioning%20improperly.

https://www.smta.org/chapters/files/Philadelphia_SMTA_Philly_Rev2.pdf

https://www.rittal.us/contents/electromagnetic-compatibility-and-why-is-it-important-for-enclosures/

Electronic F/A: for IC, PCB:

Ball Shear and Die Shear : Ball shear testing uses a mechanically driven wedge to shear off solder balls off of BGA packages or solder bumps off of flip chip die. The ball shear results provide insight into the quality of solder to pad bond, that directly correlates to reliability and long term performance of the solder joint.

Jet-etch and acid decap:

Decapsulation is the process of removing the mold compound from an integrated circuit or other plastic package to reveal the silicon die inside. The process typically does not affect the electrical performance of the device, but permits visual inspection of the die for failure analysis purposes or to inspect for anomalies such as EOS (electrical overstress), die cracking, pad cratering, reading die serialization, lot numbers, and date codes, or other information available on the die itself.

Final Assembly, Test, & Packaging (FATP). To ensure products leaving the manufacturing are built according to design, products undergo FATP where an array of testing is conducted.

  1. Mechanical Reliability Testing
  2. Failure Analysis
  3. Safety Testing: https://www.intertek.com/uploadedFiles/Intertek/Divisions/Commercial_and_Electrical/Media/PDF/EMC_Testing/Why-50-Percent-Fail-EMC-WP.pdf
    https://www.rittal.us/contents/electromagnetic-compatibility-and-why-is-it-important-for-enclosures/
  4. Environmental Testing
  5. Electrical Reliability Testing
  6. Advanced Assembly
  7. Functionality Testing