The Integrated Time and Stress Measurement Device Concept

This paper addresses the measurement of physical stress on devices, components, and assemblies in an operational environment. It is within the scope of current state-of-the-art semiconductor technology to incorporate stress measurement subsystems that are small enough and inexpensive enough to be included as an integral part in most military equipment and some comercial equipment. The collection of physical stress data is obviously important for the correlation of the cause/effect relationship between stress and failure mechanisms. Equally important is the possibility of isolating instances where the application environment exceeds the design environment. This leads to the possibility of an effective method of warranty verification. The system hardware and software design are discussed, as are the various sensors and sensor technologies required for the Time and Stress Measurement Device applications.