TABLE OF CONTENTS Accelerated multiple environmental testing (AMET) is a process in which a product is subjected to environmental simulation. AMET is one of the basic components of accelerated reliability testing.
A randomly selected product can be tested at an extreme range of environmental parameters (temperature, humidity, pollution, radiation, etc.) to confirm continuation of the design and production process compliance. Testing can be used to simulate the environment which the products will encounter in transportation and operation. But people who plan, manage, and make AMET must realize that in real life environmental influences do not act independently on the product, but in combination with other types of influences such as road features, input voltage, etc. Product reliability is a result of interaction of these types of influences.
Unfortunately, most texts, including those of the more highly developed technologies such as electronics, aerospace, etc., make use of and describe mostly the simulation of only one type of real environmental influences temperature. And more rarely, temperature + humidity. Texts use the following types of separate testing [1] , [2] , [3], etc.:
Thermal Cycling.
High Temperature Burn-In.
Thermal Shock.
Humidity.
Low Temperature
Etc.
The above approach is used for reliability or durability testing in accelerated testing techniques such as HALT, Accelerated Aging, etc. For example, HALT means simulation of temperature (usually the range from ?100 C to +150 C), with additional vibration testing. Developers and users of this approach claim that after several days of testing...
