Radiant Cooktop Reliability Study - Accelerated Life Test

This paper presents the results and a quantitative reliability analysis of an Accelerated Life Test (ALT) with supply voltage as stress factor. The component under study is a radiant heater used in an electric cooktop. In order to check the limits of the component and to have hints for designing the ALT, a qualitative reliability analysis of a High Accelerated Life Test (HALT) has been executed as first. The analysis is focused on the most frequent failure mode for the radian heater of electric cooktop: the burning of the ribbon wire. The authors assess the stress over operation of the component under study. Intensity, frequency and duration have been analysed with innovative solutions collecting data from test campaign, connected home appliances and electric grid field variation report of German government. A stress versus strength analysis was fulfilled and the probability of failure has been calculated after 10 years of component usage in home appliance cooktop.

Keywords: Accelerated life test, High accelerated life test, Electrical radiant heater, Electric cooktop reliability.