Accelerated Testing of Electromechanical Connectors Considering Thermal and Mechanical Loads

Autonomous cars require a large number of electromechanical connectors and the reliability of these connectors, which can be expressed as failure rate, influences the long term performance of these cars substantially. Temperature and vibration are the two main reasons for the degradation of connectors in automobiles and therefore influence the failure rate directly. The focus of this paper is to illustrate a new way to determine the failure rate of connectors under the multivariables of vibration and thermal cycling loads for automotive application. A testing method which considers the influence of temperature, thermal cycling and vibration on the failure rate and a calculation model which predicts the failure rate of connectors under various thermal and mechanical operating conditions based on the test data are introduced. The calculation model is a further development of the Norris-Landzberg equation. The results of the tests can also provide information about the influence of design features, manufacturing process and quality on the reliability of connectors.