Title: An engineered testing strategy: part I: enhanced balance between analytic and hardware

Authors: Faysal Khalaf

Addresses: Ford Motor Company, 9060 Trillium Ln, Plymouth, MI 48170, USA

Abstract: An important phase of any product development process is design optimisation and validation. This phase ensures through a predetermined testing strategy that the product failure modes are studied and addressed. The analytical and hardware type of testing present the engineering community with a selection. However, inherent deficiencies exist in each one. Hardware tests are long, expensive and have moderate-to-good correlation to field. Analytical modelling and simulation are quicker at the component level but moderately correlated and time-consuming at the system level. The challenge of executing appropriate testing necessitates the need for a balanced and engineered testing strategy to support product development process timing. This paper illustrates the need for a testing strategy through an example and provides the mechanics on how to deliver a balanced strategy to improve either analytical or hardware testing for better and more correlated tests. A business case for this need is also presented.

Keywords: axiomatic design; design verification; failure mode; computer aided engineering; CAE; failure mode and effects analysis; FMEA; key life testing; KLT; product development; testing strategies; design for six sigma; DFSS.

DOI: 10.1504/IJPD.2006.009900

International Journal of Product Development, 2006 Vol.3 No.3/4, pp.404 - 418

Published online: 01 Jun 2006 *

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