Lessons Learned From Avionics Integrity Program (AVIP) Durability Life Testing (DLT)
In the late 1980s the United States Air Force began requiring the implementation of the Avionics/ Electronics Integrity Program (AVIP). The purpose of AVIP was to utilize physics of failure analysis and test methods during development to eliminate fatigue and wearout failure mechanisms when systems are fielded. One of the key features of AVIP is the durability life test (DLT). The F-22 program was the first major weapons system to comprehensively require AVIP or the Mechanical Systems Integrity Program (MECSIP) for all equipment. The paper documents the findings and lessons learned from the F-22 program DLT for avionics and electronics. The paper discusses the driving environments of vibration and thermal cycling and test compression for those environments. Also discussed are test specifications, sample size, test setup, combined environments, failure criteria, and test instrumentation. Programmatic issues with DLT are presented. The data reduction for a large sample of tests is reported by failure type and as a function of test duration. Corrective action and corrective action verification is discussed and statistics presented. Finally, a cost-benefit analysis shows the benefit of DLT.