Advances in Evaluation of State of Health of Electrical Connectors

The state of health and lifetime estimation process of electrical connectors via lifetime tests is a time and labor intensive process. In our previous work, a correlation between the contact resistance developments in the early stages of lifetime tests of electrical connectors with the final results was established using a data driven statistical process based on probability distribution. Also, state of health indicators for prognosis of lifetime were introduced. In this work, the state of health indicators have been optimized. The sensitivity analysis is performed with regards to the selection of the appropriate amount of test data based on test duration for the reliable prognosis of the state of health and the characteristic lifetime. Through this the possibility of further reduction of test duration required for the reliable prognosis of state of health is investigated. Based on the results of analysis, a guideline for the determination of the duration of lifetime tests which lead to a reliable prediction of lifetime of connectors can be provided. Also, an assessment of the state of art in the prognosis of the lifetime of electrical connectors has been presented.