Ten things you should know about HALT & HASS

HALT & HASS (Highly Accelerated Life Testing and Highly Accelerated Stress Screening) are relatively new product test methods. They are used on many products worldwide, from consumer products to aerospace equipment. HALT is used during design, and HASS during production. Both these methods are fundamentally different to conventional test methods. An objective of HALT is to intentionally cause failure to occur during test, and not to demonstrate compliance with development specifications. It is therefore often difficult for engineers, and especially technical management, to fully understand the principles of HALT & HASS. This paper starts with a brief introduction on reliability engineering, and continues with an overview of HALT & HASS. Ten aspects, considered to be essential to understand HALT & HASS, are discussed. The paper is intended as management overview to facilitate successful HALT & HASS implementation.