Failure analysis is considered as one important discipline in many branches in the manufacturing industry. It is a process that relies on gathering of failed components (elements or product sections with defects) for subsequent examination of the cause or reason(s) for failure. It effectively helps particularly in the following:
Refinement of an existing product -- many products found in the market today can still be refined with the help of failure analysis; this is with the help of several procedures including collecting data of their failed components, which are brought to a laboratory for analysis in order to determine the cause and act accordingly.
New products development -- in a number of cases, a discovery of the cause of failure does not only give an opportunity to refine existing product but it opens a portal to develop a new/other products as well, which can be advantageous to both manufacturers and costumer.
Cost reductions -- with the help of failure analysis in determining the cause of failure, manufacturing companies can reduce operational costs and avoid unnecessary spending by using better materials, which can bring a significant advantage to the bottomline.
Two popular methods being used in failure analysis and these are the following:
Electrical failure analysis -- The mechanisms utilized as part of electrical failure analysis could include Analytical Probe Station, Curve-Trace (which is either manual or automated), Emission Microscopy (near infrared), Florescent Micro-Thermal Imaging (with Lock-in), Laser Stimulation Microscopy. Example of failures where electrical failure analysis can be done to are dielectric breakdown, component failure, contamination of circuit boards, arc tracking/conductive path tracking, poor quality solder joints, floating neutrals and high voltage transients, and oxidation and corrosion of electrical connections.
Physical failure analysis -- this can become very important for process optimization in conditions like when there is a prevalent shrinking of materials utilized in the process. Should this situation arise, a manufacturing company can do the physical failure analysis (or it has the option to hire a failure analysis company to do it) such as 3D X-ray Tomography, C-scanning acoustic Microscopy, Deprocessing, De-capsulation, Mechanical Cross-Sectioning, FIB-SEM Cross Sectioning, Real-time X-ray - among other physical failure analysis.
More and more companies in the manufacturing sector have recognized the importance of failure analysis and have incorporated this procedure in their own system for new product development or refinement of existing ones.
Refinement of an existing product -- many products found in the market today can still be refined with the help of failure analysis; this is with the help of several procedures including collecting data of their failed components, which are brought to a laboratory for analysis in order to determine the cause and act accordingly.
New products development -- in a number of cases, a discovery of the cause of failure does not only give an opportunity to refine existing product but it opens a portal to develop a new/other products as well, which can be advantageous to both manufacturers and costumer.
Cost reductions -- with the help of failure analysis in determining the cause of failure, manufacturing companies can reduce operational costs and avoid unnecessary spending by using better materials, which can bring a significant advantage to the bottomline.
Two popular methods being used in failure analysis and these are the following:
Electrical failure analysis -- The mechanisms utilized as part of electrical failure analysis could include Analytical Probe Station, Curve-Trace (which is either manual or automated), Emission Microscopy (near infrared), Florescent Micro-Thermal Imaging (with Lock-in), Laser Stimulation Microscopy. Example of failures where electrical failure analysis can be done to are dielectric breakdown, component failure, contamination of circuit boards, arc tracking/conductive path tracking, poor quality solder joints, floating neutrals and high voltage transients, and oxidation and corrosion of electrical connections.
Physical failure analysis -- this can become very important for process optimization in conditions like when there is a prevalent shrinking of materials utilized in the process. Should this situation arise, a manufacturing company can do the physical failure analysis (or it has the option to hire a failure analysis company to do it) such as 3D X-ray Tomography, C-scanning acoustic Microscopy, Deprocessing, De-capsulation, Mechanical Cross-Sectioning, FIB-SEM Cross Sectioning, Real-time X-ray - among other physical failure analysis.
More and more companies in the manufacturing sector have recognized the importance of failure analysis and have incorporated this procedure in their own system for new product development or refinement of existing ones.
About the Author:
Paul Drake writes various industry-related topics and his work experience in a high tech facility helps in doing the job. To learn more about failure analysis, visit Nanolab Technologies official website.
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