A Non-Arrhenius Model for Mechanism Consistency Checking in Accelerated Degradation Tests

Degradation models are central to the lifetime prediction of electromagnetic relays. Coefficients of degradation models under accelerated degradation test (ADTs) can be obtained experimentally, and it is customary to map these coefficients back to those describing the actual degradation by the so-called Arrhenius model. However, for some components, such as springs in electromagnetic relays, the Arrhenius model is only appropriate over a certain ADT temperature range, which implies inaccurate mapping outside that range. On this point, an error function model (EFM) is proposed to overcome the shortcomings of the Arrhenius model. EFM is derived from the average vibration energy of the crystal, which is further related to temperature alongside some constants. The empirical part of the paper compares the proposed EFM to the Arrhenius model for the ADT of 28-V–2-A electromagnetic relays. The results show that EFM is superior in describing the temperature characteristics of coefficients in the degradation model. Through mechanism consistency checking, EFM is also shown to be a better option than the Arrhenius model. Moving beyond the case of electromagnetic relays, EFM is thought to have better applicability in the degradation models of capacitors and rubbers.