Reliability and Remaining Life Assessment of an Electronic Fuze Using Accelerated Life Testing

Abstract

An electronic fuze is a one-shot system that has a long storage life and high mission criticality. Fuzes are designed, developed, and tested for high reliability (over 99%) with a confidence level of more than 95%. The electronic circuit of a fuze is embedded in the fuze assembly, and thus is not visible. Go/NoGo fuze assembly mission critical testing does not provide prognostic information about electrical and electronic circuits and subtle causes of failure. Longer storage times and harsh conditions cause degradation at the component level. In order to calculate accrued damage due to storage and operational stresses, it is necessary to perform sample-based accelerated life testing after a certain time and estimate the remaining useful life of mission critical parts. Reliability studies of mechanical parts of such systems using nondestructive testing (NDT) have been performed, but a thorough investigation is missing with regards to the electronic parts. The objective of this study is to identify weak links and estimate the reliability and remaining useful life of electronic and detonating parts. Three critical components are identified in an electronic fuze circuit (1) a diode, (2) a capacitor, and (3) a squib or detonator. The accelerated test results reveal that after ten years of storage life, there is no significant degradation in active components while passive components need to be replaced. The squib has a remaining useful life (RUL) of more than ten years with reliability over 99%.