Product life is strongly affected by the usage environment and by climate environment variables such as temperature, humidity, vibration, pressure, and corrosive gas. To take electronic equipment as an example, in recent years, equipment has become miniaturized yet having higher level functionality. Semiconductor components are becoming more minute and subject to much higher density mounting. The heat generated by this type of equipment is coming into focus as the major factor dominating product life.1)
On the other hand, environments in which products are installed tend to be located indoors in structures that are largely airtight to provide an environment with a desirable level of human comfort. Unlike the outdoor environment, temperature and humidity tend to be stable, resulting in a difference in temperature and humidity between the indoors and outdoor environments. In buildings such as offices and shops with people constantly going in and out of an otherwise airtight structure, this difference between the indoor and outdoor environments can cause temperature and humidity to fluctuate, leading to such problems as mold as well as equipment failure from dew condensation.
In conventional testing, the above problem has been viewed as a new problem in which it is particularly difficult to detect failure. To rectify this shortcoming, information on usage environment conditions must be collected and analyzed, and then reflected in improvements in product design and perhaps changes in testing as well.2)
|
