Board-level vibration failure criteria for printed circuit assemblies: an experimental approach

This paper presents a method to predict the reliability of electronic components subjected to intense vibration. A range of discrete SMT package types were experimentally tested, including resistors, transistors, capacitors and SOIC packages, failure was detected in real-time. Important results from this paper are that local PCB curvature strongly correlates with failure rates, whilst local PCB acceleration has no correlation. The method and findings shown in this paper are essential reading for anyone considering creating their own failure test