Comparison of different statistical methods for prediction of lifetime of electrical connectors with short term tests

Lifetime is an important feature defining the reliability of electrical connectors. In general practice, the lifetime tests required for reliability estimation are time and labor intensive. In our previous work, a data driven method using a statistical process, with an application of probability distributions such as standard normal distribution and generalized extreme value (GEV) distribution with negative skewness to predict degradation paths, was introduced for estimation of the lifetime and FIT rate with the help of electrical contact resistance data collected from short term tests. The proposed method proved its significance by showing the possibility of drastic reduction in the lifetime test duration required for reliability determination. In this work, a non-parametric distribution free method using percentiles of actual measured contact resistances is used for determining the lifetime as against the percentiles of probability distribution used in previous work, thereby simplifying the process further and leading to an even more precise estimation. The lifetimes calculated from parametric and non-parametric methods are compared to highlight the significance of distribution free method in reliability estimation.