Project Description

The aim is to create new and improved methods by laboratory testing of specimens, and comparisons with result from experiences of specimens used in the field. Acceleration of corrosion and ageing tests is not an easy task. Time-consuming tests and many times doubtful results are common. We suggest a project with a broad approach in this area. This proposal is intended to be a general project for corrosion and ageing of products and materials, mainly concerning electronics. This project is suitable for any product facing possible problems with chemical environments and ageing. Any type of service, size and environment, will be considered. It would be an advantage for all possible participants to collect all interesting cases in one project. One of the goals with this approach is to give participants broader experience in this area. The project consists of three parts. 1. Development of life time prediction method using pre-contamination followed by environmental treatment. Further development of a current method with pre-contamination of specimens used for mobile phones. This method could be made general to be suited for other product areas, as for instance electronics in road vehicles. 2. Development of High Accelerated Corrosion Tests based on ISO 21207. 3. Development of HALT (Highly Accelerated Life Test/Testing) methods based on salt tests and other contaminants.

Technological Development Envisaged

Because of the increasing complexity of new technical systems and products, their development demands even better ways of testing in order to predict the long-term performance at an early stage of development. Electronic units are no exception to this trend and they are particularly demanding since they are today used in environments with a combination of high temperatures, humidity, mechanical vibrations and corrosive substances. Testing each parameter separately has proven not to give a realistic picture of an electronic unit in a specific environment. New and better corrosion and ageing combination tests have been developed over the past few years, and have proven to correlate better with real conditions that the products are subjected to. However, because of the pressure of the market, the time between the idea of a product and the production is decreasing, and there is a need for better and more severe corrosion and ageing tests in order to shorten the lead-time of products. Moreover, some of the existing methods have the potential of being used for predicting the life-time of several products, but need further development to achieve this goal.