ASQ_CRE (Certified Reliability Engineer) Problems

Chapter 9. Reliability Testing.

■ Reliability Testing - Question Test.

1. In the area of reliability test planning, the funnel of tolerances is used for which of the
following ?
A. To demonstrate Nelson's classic tampering experiment
B. To allow for some parameter drift
C. To permit a screening program for new product development
D. To provide tighter tolerances at lower levels of production

2. Determine the required test sample size for 90% reliability at a confidence level of 80%.
A. 11 B. 12 C. 45 D. 16

3. A mockup of a new design has been developed. The project design team has carefully field
tested and analyzed the mockup for compliance with the design. A possible recommendation for
the next step would be which of the following ?
A. Perform a limited number of mockup runs to determine reliability and confidence levels
B. Proceed with full scale ramp up
C. Conduct tests using personnel not as familiar with the mockup
D. Perform a cost analysis of additional testing

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 Chapter 9 : Reliability Testing.

4. A new user interface board for installation in microprocessors for gateway access to the
internet is being developed. Consideration of combined environmental reliability testing should
include all of the following factors EXCEPT :
A. Electromagnetic inference
B. Temperature cycling
C. Vibration testing
D. Equipment compatibility

5. A number of test units underwent accelerated life testing. There were three levels of stress
testing conducted. The stress levels are given in multiples of the normal level. That is, the
highest stress level was 10 times normal. Refer to the following data :

Stress Life/hours
3× 17
5× 15
10× 10
Determine the projected life of the device at normal operating conditions. (hint: plot a graph of
the data)

A. 10 B. 18 C. 19 D. 20

6. Typically statistical distributions or confidence limits can be determined for accelerated tests.
In the case of a step-stress test, the proper estimated distribution to use would be which of
the following ?
A. Exponential B. Weibull C. Lognormal D. None, not meaningful

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 ASQ_CRE (Certified Reliability Engineer) Problems

7. An accelerated life test is performed on a new electronic device. The accelerated test is
conducted at 150 ℃, with a mean failure time of the devices equaling 100 hours. Given an
activation energy of 0.25 eV, an acceleration factor of 2.0, determine the normal operating
temperature in ℃.
A. 111 B. 384 C. 150 D. 75

8. You are chief engineer for a new revamped internet interface card, which is easy to install
and will allow user modification through software. The initial qualification tests generated 5
failures in 3,000 hours. The goal is for a MTBF of at least 2,000 hours in service. If the α
value is 0.4, how much total testing is required ?
A. 17,000 hours B. 7,500 hours C. 1,200 hours D. 25,000 hours

9. Environmental Stress Screening has shown to be very effective in a production process. The
levels of defects have dropped from 5% to 25ppm. This would indicate :
Ⅰ. ESS can be eliminated, it is no longer necessary
Ⅱ. ESS is still needed, but change the applied stresses
Ⅲ. All causes of defects have been found
Ⅳ. Continue the present ESS techniques
A. I and III only B. II only C. IV only D. I only

10. A burn-in test will be conducted on a large population of electronic parts. The test will
consist of n parts placed into a burn chamber at normal ambient conditions. After a specified
period of time the test will be concluded. During the test, any and all failed parts will be
repaired or replaced with parts from the parent population. This testing resembles which of the
following ?
A. A test to weed out freak parts B. A test to eliminate infant mortality
C. A Markovian test D. A sequential test

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 Chapter 9 : Reliability Testing.

11. As the reliability engineer of a medium sized firm, you have developed a reliability test plan
for the shop. The shop manufactures products on a medium batch size basis. The batches
range from 30 to 500 pieces per order. The test plan should include all of the following
functions EXCEPT :
A. Discovery every failure mode B. Estimate MTBF values
C. Provide an environment safe testing D. Inspect the majority parts produced

12. Guidelines have been provided in various handbooks for temperature control of rooms. It is
a late Spring day and the office complex is starting to feel uncomfortable. The ideal
environmental conditions should be at :
Ⅰ. At a heating temperature of at least 68 degrees F
Ⅱ. With a ventilation of 0.85m of air per minute
3

Ⅲ. At a cooling temperature below 29.5 degrees C

Ⅳ. With a wet bulb temperature of 80 degrees F
A. I and IV only B. II and IV only C. I, II and III only D. I, II, III and IV

13. A test chamber is available to test a new pro sports bicycle helmet. The combined
environmental reliability test (CERT) chamber performs several tests. The developed test would
be considered adequate, EXCEPT when :
A. Temperature ranges from the extremes (high and low) are used
B. Ultraviolet radiation levels are included
C. Vibration levels from the extremes will be sequentially tested
D. Testing is performed simultaneously on the three variables

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 ASQ_CRE (Certified Reliability Engineer) Problems

14. Accelerated life testing has been performed on a pro sports bicycle helmet. There were
several levels of testing completed at low, intermediate, and high stress levels. What could be
concluded from the plot of the stresses ?

Cumulative failures

High

Intermediate

Low

Time

A. Stress failure modes may not correspond to normal conditions

B. The plot is adequate for use
C. Useful failure modes are being uncovered
D. Nothing can be concluded, many more tests are necessary

15. You have developed an accelerated life testing plan. The test will be conducted at three
stress levels, high to low. There are only 21 units allocated for testing. You should allocate test
units at which of the indicated high, intermediate, and low stress levels ?

high medium low

A. 3 7 11
B. 7 7 7
C. 11 7 3
C. 15 3 3

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 Chapter 9 : Reliability Testing.

16. Accelerated life testing and data analysis can be accomplished through which of the following
models ?
Ⅰ. Arrhenius
Ⅱ. Fatigue failures
Ⅲ. Inverse power rule
Ⅳ. Rayleigh
A. I only B. I and III only C. II, III and IV only D. I, II, III and IV

17. Eight tennis rackets were step-stress tested. Eventually all units were tested to failure.
Provide the median ranking of the 6th unit.
A. 60 % B. 68 % C. 75 % D. 64 %

18. A reliability engineer has developed an accelerated life testing plan. An exponential
distribution is assumed. Given that the acceleration factor is 2.4, a test provides a MTTF of 80
hours. Determine the reliability under normal conditions for a time equal to 200 hours.
A. 8.2 % B. 19.7 % C. 35.3 % D. 45.7 %

19. The Weibull distribution has been found to be suitable as an accelerated testing model. If
the given parameters are: beta, β, is 2.7, the accelerated stress is 100 psi, the acceleration
factor is 3.4, and the scale stress parameter is 40. Determine the reliability at normal
conditions at 60 hours.
A. 0.896 B. 0.050 C. 0.950 D. 0.104

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 ASQ_CRE (Certified Reliability Engineer) Problems

20. The AMSAA model is used for reliability growth. The shape parameter, beta(β) is 0.70,
and the scale parameter, α, is 100. Determine the instantaneous mean time to failure at t =
200 hours.
A. 152 B. 175 C. 201 D. 259

21. Failures occur on a system at 75, 79, 83, 85 hours. Assuming normality, one sided and
unbiased, the lower tolerance limit for 95 % reliability with 90 % confidence for this sample is :
A. 96 hours B. 60 hours C. 100 hours D. 63 hours

22. What is the minimum number of failure free trips that I must make in my car to be at
least 95% confident it is 95% reliable ?
A. 22 B. 45 C. 58 D. 102

23. The effect of increasing the stress level on a component is to :

A. Increase the mean wearout life for the component
B. Decrease the mean wearout life for the component
C. Have no effect on the wearout life for the component
D. Reduce the frequency of replacing components

24. "Burn-in" testing is conducted on electronic assemblies (or systems) to :

A. Establish system failure rates
B. Extend product life
C. Increase the total number of failure occurrences
D. Minimize early life failure occurrences

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25. When testing to establish failure rate data and reliability predictions, which of the following
is NOT normally a feasible acceleration factor with respect to rated conditions ?
A. Longer time B. Greater humidity
C. Higher temperature D. Higher voltage

26. A device can succeed or fail on a test. The number of independent trials needed to
demonstrate .90 reliability with a 95% confidence level when only one failure is allowed is :
A. 22 B. 45 C. 56 D. 68

27. In general, military standards are based on the assumption of :

A. An increasing failure rate B. A constant failure rate
C. A decreasing failure rate D. All types of failure rates

28. Reliability testing plans may encompass :

Ⅰ. Fixed length tests
Ⅱ. Probability ratio
Ⅲ. Longevity tests
A. I and II only B. I and III only C. II and III only D. I, II and III

29. Human factors field testing :

A. Should be carried out on a production model of the equipment
B. Should demonstrate the capability of personnel to perform the required function
C. Does not require a plan if military personnel are involved
D. Must not be combined with engineering tests on the same equipment

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 ASQ_CRE (Certified Reliability Engineer) Problems

30. Which of the following may be uncovered as a result of failure analysis during the
development phase of a program ?
Ⅰ. Mechanical design weaknesses
Ⅱ. Part application or circuit design problems
Ⅲ. Assembly or workmanship problems
A. I and II only B. I and III only C. II and III only D. I, II and III

31. In the comparison of MIL-STD-105 to MIL-STD-781 :

A. Process average equals the point of indifference
B. LTPD corresponds to the MTBF
C. AQL corresponds to the MTBF
D. OC curves have the same general shape

32. When a large number of components have been tested for a fixed time with no failures
then :
A. The failure rate is indeterminable
B. The failure rate is at least an individual test time
C. The failure rate is equivalent to the sum of the individual test times
D. The Laplace rule of succession always applies

33. If one failure is observed in 50 units tested, the unit reliability at 90 percent confidence
level is :
A. 0.960 B. 0.967 C. 0.900 D. 0.924

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34. A life test on nine units produced the following times to failure (All values × 103 hours)

9.3 9.8 10.3

9.4 10.0 10.7
9.6 10.0 10.9

Assume that a normally distributed wearout model applies and that the variance ( σ 2 ) of this
distribution is known to be 4 × 106 hours. At what point (tw) would you replace these units to
be at least 90 percent confident that the reliability remains ≥ 0.99?
A. 5.34 × 103 B. 4.49 × 103 C. 10.00 × 103 D. 5.34 × 102

35. Which of the following statements is the best description of environmental stress screening
(EES) ?
A. It's a significant part of intermittent failure
B. It's useful in weeding out defects using either normal or accelerated tests
C. It requires more expensive test equipment than PRAT techniques
D. It is almost always a destructive testing method

36. Which of the following tests uses combined simultaneous stresses to discover product
failure modes ?
A. AMSAA models B. PRAT tests C. CERT tests D. Qualification tests

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 ASQ_CRE (Certified Reliability Engineer) Problems

37. The acceleration factor AT, used to determine environmental thermal stress in accelerated
life tests for many electronic devices, is routinely determined for which of the following models
?
A. Arrhenius model B. Duane model
C. AMSAA model D. Inverse power rule model

38. The major purpose of burn-in is to :

A. Correct any design problems before shipment
B. Improve the reliability growth
C. Minimize the initial failure region in customer operation of the design
D. Minimize the wear out failure region in customer operation

39. The initial failure rates for both electrical and mechanical devices could follow which of the
following trends ?
Ⅰ. An increasing rate
Ⅱ. A decreasing rate
Ⅲ. A constant rate
Ⅳ. A gradual increasing rate
A. II only B. I, II and III only C. II, III and IV only D. I, II, III and IV

40. An electrical sneak circuit is best described as :

A. A demonstration test
B. More than one electrical executable path
C. An invalid latent path
D. A perpetual circuit loop

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41. If a Duane growth model has a growth rate of α = 0.4 with a cumulative MTBF of 30,000
hours, what is the instantaneous MTBF
A. 18,000 hrs B. 50,000 hrs C. 75,000 hrs D. 100,000 hrs

A test is conducted for 1,000 hours. Eight units are placed on test. During the test four units
fail at times of 200 hours, 400 hours, 600 hours and 800 hours. The failed units are not
replaced. Use this information for the following two questions.

42. What is the estimated MTBF for the unit ?

A. 500 hrs B. 750 hrs C. 1000 hrs D. 1500 hrs

43. What are the appropriate degrees of freedom needed to estimate a lower one-sided
confidence limit on MTBF from the prior question ?
A. 4 B. 6 C. 8 D. 10

44. For continual improvement in product reliability which of the following tests is most
desirable ?
A. Development tests B. Burn-in tests
C. Stress screening tests D. Qualification tests

45. Seventy-five items were subjected to a test in which 2 items failed. What is the reliability
as the 95 percent lower confidence level ?
A. 0.88 B. 0.90 C. 0.92 D. 0.94

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 ASQ_CRE (Certified Reliability Engineer) Problems

46. A test indicates that MTBF for a product is 100 hours. Assuming a Weibull distribution with
β=.8 what is the estimated reliability of the system after 80 hours ?
A. 0.433 B. 0.368 C. 0.227 D. 0.196

47. The design ratio used in PRST is an expression of :

A. Producer's risk/consumer's risk
B. Acceptable MTBF/low limit MTBF
C. Acceptable MTBF/consumer's risk
D. Producer's risk/low limit MTBF

48. Calibration of environmental test chambers is usually performed at :

A. The National Institute of Standards and Technology
B. Certified regional standards laboratories
C. The site where the test equipment is used
D. The site where the equipment was manufactured

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Chapter 9 : Reliability Testing.

Solutions.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
B D C D C D A A B B
11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20
D C C A A D B C A B
21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30
D C B D A B B D B D
31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40
C A D B B C A C D C
41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48
B D D A C A B C

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