IEC TS 61586:2017

IEC TS 61586 ®
Edition 2.0 2017-01
TECHNICAL
SPECIFICATION
SPECIFICATION
TECHNIQUE
colour
inside
Estimation of the reliability of electrical connectors

Estimation de la fiabilité des connecteurs électriques

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IEC TS 61586 ®
Edition 2.0 2017-01
TECHNICAL
SPECIFICATION
SPECIFICATION
TECHNIQUE
colour
inside
Estimation of the reliability of electrical connectors

Estimation de la fiabilité des connecteurs électriques

INTERNATIONAL
ELECTROTECHNICAL
COMMISSION
COMMISSION
ELECTROTECHNIQUE
INTERNATIONALE
ICS 31.220.10 ISBN 978-2-8322-3816-5

– 2 – IEC TS 61586:2017 © IEC 2017
CONTENTS
FOREWORD . 3
INTRODUCTION . 5
1 Scope . 7
2 Normative references . 7
3 Terms and definitions. 7
4 General considerations . 7
4.1 General . 7
4.2 Intrinsic degradation mechanisms . 7
4.3 Extrinsic degradation mechanisms . 7
4.4 Control of extrinsic degradation . 8
4.5 Failure effects, failure modes and failure (degradation) mechanisms . 8
4.5.1 General . 8
4.5.2 Failure modes . 8
4.5.3 Degradation mechanisms . 8
5 Test methods and acceleration factors . 9
6 Basic contact and connector reliability testing protocol . 10
7 Reliability statistics . 14
7.1 Basic statistical approach to estimating reliability for variables data . 14
7.2 Contact vs. connector reliability . 15
7.3 Estimating contact / connector reliability estimates in terms of MTTF/MTBF . 16
8 Acceptance criteria . 16
9 Summary and conclusions . 17
Annex A (informative) Determining the stress relaxation acceleration factor for dry heat
test conditions . 18
Annex B (informative) Using extreme value distributions to estimate reliability for
multiple position connectors . 20
Bibliography . 25

Figure B.1 – Contact arrangement in a square 16 pole connector. 20
Figure B.2 – Largest ΔR values: reference of maximum allowed change – 20 mΩ . 21
Figure B.3 – Largest ΔR values with confidence interval for reliability estimates –
Largest extreme value probability with 90 % confidence interval – Sample size = 10 . 22
Figure B.4 – Largest ΔR values with confidence interval for reliability estimates –
Largest extreme value probability with 90 % confidence interval – Sample size = 5 . 23
Figure B.5 – Largest ΔR values with confidence interval for reliability estimates –
Largest extreme value probability with 90 % confidence interval – Sample size = 20 . 24

INTERNATIONAL ELECTROTECHNICAL COMMISSION
____________
ESTIMATION OF THE RELIABILITY OF ELECTRICAL CONNECTORS

FOREWORD
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Technical specifications are subject to review within three years of publication to decide
whether they can be transformed into International Standards.
IEC TS 61586, which is a technical specification, has been prepared by IEC technical
committee 48: Electrical connectors and mechanical structures for electrical and electronic
equipment.
This second edition cance
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