The Sagamore Army Materials Research Conferences have been held in the beautiful Adirondack Mountains of New York State since 1954. Organized and conducted by the Army Materials and Mechanics Research Center (Watertown, Massachusetts) in cooperation with Syracuse University, the Conferences have focused on key issues in Materials Science and Engineering that impact directly on current or future Army problem areas. A select group of speakers and attendees are assembled from academia, industry, and other parts of the Department of Defense and Government to provide an optimum forum for a full dialogue on the selected topic. This book is a collection of the full manuscripts of the formal presentations given at the Conference. The emergence and use of nontraditional materials and the excessive failures and reject rates of high technology, materials intensive engineering systems necessitates a new approach to quality control. Thus, the theme of this year's Thirty-First Conference, "Materials Characterization for Systems Performance and Reliability," was selected to focus on the need and mechanisms to transition from defect interrogation of materials after production to utilization of materials characterization during manufacturing. The guidance and help of the steering committee and the dedicated and conscientious efforts of Ms. Karen Ka100stian, Con ference Coordinator, and Mr. William K. Wilson, and Ms. Mary Ann Holmquist are gratefully acknowledged. The continued active interest and support of Dr. Edward S. Wright, Director, AMMRC; Dr. Robert W. Lewis, Associate Director, AMMRC; and COL L. C. Ross, Commander/ Deputy Director, AMMRC; are greatly appreciated.

The book charts how reliability engineering has moved from the use of sometimes arbitrary standards to an empirical scientific approach of understanding operating conditions, failure mechanisms, the need for testing for a more realistic characterisation and, new for the second edition, includes the monitoring of performance/robustness in the field. Reliability Characterisation of Electrical and Electronic Systems brings together a number of experts and key players in the discipline to concisely present the fundamentals and background to reliability theory, elaborate on the current thinking and developments behind reliability characterisation, and give a detailed account of emerging issues across a wide range of applications. The second edition has a new section titled Reliability Condition Monitoring and Prognostics for Specific Application which provides a guide to critical issues in key industrial sectors such as automotive and aerospace. There are also new chapters on areas of growing importance such as reliability methods in high-temperature electronics and reliability and testing of electric aircraft power systems. Reviews emerging areas of importance such as reliability methods in high-temperature electronics and reliability testing of electric vehicles Looks at the failure mechanisms, testing methods, failure analysis, characterisation techniques and prediction models that can be used to increase reliability Facilitates a greater understanding of operating conditions, failure mechanisms and the need for testing

Metrology is the study of measurement. It includes all theoretical and practical aspects of measurement and may be divided into three subfields: Scientific or fundamental metrology concerns the establishment of measurement units, unit systems, development of new measurement methods, realization of measurement standards and the transfer of traceability from these standards to users in society. This handbook contains articles dealing with general topics of measurement and articles on particular subjects in mechanics and acoustics, electricity, optics, temperature, time and frequency, chemistry, medicine and particles. The contributions of the first part are sumamrized as follows. Introduction Units Fundamental Constants Fundamentals of Materials Measurement and Testing Measurement of Mass Desnity Measurement and Instrumentation of Flow Ultrasonics Measurement of Basic Electromagnetic Quantities Quantum Electrical Standards Metrology of Time and Frequency Temperature Measurement Metrology in Medicine

Nanoelectronics is changing the way the world communicates, and is transforming our daily lives. Continuing Moore’s law and miniaturization of low-power semiconductor chips with ever-increasing functionality have been relentlessly driving R&D of new devices, materials, and process capabilities to meet performance, power, and cost requirements. This book covers up-to-date advances in research and industry practices in nanometrology, critical for continuing technology scaling and product innovation. It holistically approaches the subject matter and addresses emerging and important topics in semiconductor R&D and manufacturing. It is a complete guide for metrology and diagnostic techniques essential for process technology, electronics packaging, and product development and debugging—a unique approach compared to other books. The authors are from academia, government labs, and industry and have vast experience and expertise in the topics presented. The book is intended for all those involved in IC manufacturing and nanoelectronics and for those studying nanoelectronics process and assembly technologies or working in device testing, characterization, and diagnostic techniques.

Durability and Reliability of Polymers and Other Materials in Photovoltaic Modules describes the durability and reliability behavior of polymers used in Si-photovoltaic modules and systems, particularly in terms of physical aging and degradation process/mechanisms, characterization methods, accelerated exposure chamber and testing, module level testing, and service life prediction. The book compares polymeric materials to traditional materials used in solar applications, explaining the degradation pathways of the different elements of a photovoltaic module, including encapsulant, front sheet, back sheet, wires and connectors, adhesives, sealants, and more. In addition, users will find sections on the tests needed for the evaluation of polymer degradation and aging, as well as accelerated tests to aid in materials selection. As demand for photovoltaics continues to grow globally, with polymer photovoltaics offering significantly lower production costs compared to earlier approaches, this book will serve as a welcome resource on new avenues.

Traditionally the vast majority of materials characterization techniques have been destructive, e. g. , chemical compositional analysis, metallographic determination of microstructure, tensile test measurement of mechanical properties, etc. Also, traditionally, nondestructive techniques have been used almost exclusively for the detection of macroscopic defects, mostly cracks, in structures and devices which have already been constructed and have already been in service for an extended period of time. Following these conventional nondestructive tests, it has been common practice to use somewhat arbitrary accept-reject criteria to decide whether or not the structure or device should be removed from service. The present unfavorable status of a large segment of industry, coupled with the desire to keep structures in service well past their original design life, dramatically show that our traditional approaches must be drastically modified if we are to be able to meet future needs. The role of nondestructive characterization of materials is changing and will continue to change dramatically. It has become increasingly evident that it is both practical and cost effective to expand the role of nondestructive evaluation to include all aspects of materials' production and application and to introduce it much earlier in the manufacturing cycle. In fact, the recovery of a large portion of industry from severe economic problems is dependent, in part, on the successful implementation of this expanded role.

This book compiles and critically discusses modern engineering system degradation models and their impact on engineering decisions. In particular, the authors focus on modeling the uncertain nature of degradation considering both conceptual discussions and formal mathematical formulations. It also describes the basics concepts and the various modeling aspects of life-cycle analysis (LCA). It highlights the role of degradation in LCA and defines optimum design and operation parameters. Given the relationship between operational decisions and the performance of the system’s condition over time, maintenance models are also discussed. The concepts and models presented have applications in a large variety of engineering fields such as Civil, Environmental, Industrial, Electrical and Mechanical engineering. However, special emphasis is given to problems related to large infrastructure systems. The book is intended to be used both as a reference resource for researchers and practitioners and as an academic text for courses related to risk and reliability, infrastructure performance modeling and life-cycle assessment.

A high percentage of defense systems fail to meet their reliability requirements. This is a serious problem for the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD), as well as the nation. Those systems are not only less likely to successfully carry out their intended missions, but they also could endanger the lives of the operators. Furthermore, reliability failures discovered after deployment can result in costly and strategic delays and the need for expensive redesign, which often limits the tactical situations in which the system can be used. Finally, systems that fail to meet their reliability requirements are much more likely to need additional scheduled and unscheduled maintenance and to need more spare parts and possibly replacement systems, all of which can substantially increase the life-cycle costs of a system. Beginning in 2008, DOD undertook a concerted effort to raise the priority of reliability through greater use of design for reliability techniques, reliability growth testing, and formal reliability growth modeling, by both the contractors and DOD units. To this end, handbooks, guidances, and formal memoranda were revised or newly issued to reduce the frequency of reliability deficiencies for defense systems in operational testing and the effects of those deficiencies. "Reliability Growth" evaluates these recent changes and, more generally, assesses how current DOD principles and practices could be modified to increase the likelihood that defense systems will satisfy their reliability requirements. This report examines changes to the reliability requirements for proposed systems; defines modern design and testing for reliability; discusses the contractor's role in reliability testing; and summarizes the current state of formal reliability growth modeling. The recommendations of "Reliability Growth" will improve the reliability of defense systems and protect the health of the valuable personnel who operate them.