Reliability-centered test

This paper presents the concept of reliability-centered testing (RCT) as a method to improve test station throughput and reduce maintenance life cycle cost on items of complex equipment. Because of the additional analysis required, RCT requires additional development time as compared with traditional test development. While applicable to both manual and automated tests, the methodology can produce greatest savings when used on complex electronic assemblies. Design of an RCT requires the joint efforts of the test engineer and reliability analyst to be most effective in minimizing the mean time to diagnose a failure.<
>