title: Methodology to improve design of accelerated life tests in civil engineering projects.
abstract: For reliability testing an Energy Expansion Tree (EET) and a companion Energy Function Model (EFM) are proposed and described in this paper. Different from conventional approaches, the EET provides a more comprehensive and objective way to systematically identify external energy factors affecting reliability. The EFM introduces energy loss into a traditional Function Model to identify internal energy sources affecting reliability. The combination creates a sound way to enumerate the energies to which a system may be exposed during its lifetime. We input these energies into planning an accelerated life test, a Multi Environment Over Stress Test. The test objective is to discover weak links and interactions among the system and the energies to which it is exposed, and design them out. As an example, the methods are applied to the pipe in subsea pipeline. However, they can be widely used in other civil engineering industries as well. The proposed method is compared with current methods.
authors.affiliation: Department of Construction Management, Dalian University of Technology, Dalian, China.
authors.forename: Jing
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.affiliation: Department of Construction Management, Dalian University of Technology, Dalian, China.
authors.forename: Yongbo
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Yuan
authors.affiliation: Department of Construction Management, Dalian University of Technology, Dalian, China.
authors.forename: Jilai
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.affiliation: Department of Construction Management, Dalian University of Technology, Dalian, China.
authors.forename: Jie
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Gao
mesh_terms: D004738:Engineering / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods*; D004868:Equipment Failure; D008962:Models, Theoretical; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012307:Risk Factors; D013314:Stress, Mechanical; D013997:Time Factors
references.citation: Ann Rev Mar Sci. 2009;1:169-92
references.pmid: 21141034
references.citation: PLoS One. 2013;8(1):e50719
references.pmid: 23320065
references.citation: PLoS One. 2014 Mar 25;9(3):e93042
references.pmid: 24667681