A life prediction method for electronic equipment under combined thermal cycling and vibration loading conditions

Most electronic equipment is subjected to thermal cycling and random vibration in service or transportation, especially in the fields of aeronautics and astronautics. For electronic components withstand combined vibration and thermal cycling load, one of the most possible failure modes is fatigue failure of solder interconnects. The coupling of thermal cycling and vibration will accelerate crack propagation, resulting in premature failure of solder joints. In this paper, an advanced approach is proposed to predict the electronic equipment life cycle, based on the liner damage and physics of failure (PoF) theories. Thermal cycling and vibration loading conditions are co-considered in the analysis procedure. In order to verifying the life prediction method and residual strength reliability model, some simulation research has been done with the Monte-Carlo method under thermal and random vibration cycling. Comparing with traditional methods for electronic equipment life prediction, which is only appropriate for a single point failure with only one failure mechanism model, the proposed method gives more comprehensive and accurate prediction of the electronic equipment life cycle.