Is a current test method valid? Are there other tests that could better represent a products end-use environment? How can existing test methods be compared to real world measurements? These questions are becoming more common in the testing industry. Creating the perfect replication of all the field environments a product may be exposed to is a time-consuming task, but undertesting a product can have severe repercussions in the future.
 
In this case study, a product has a known failure mode that occasionally occurs in the field, but never is replicated in the current laboratory testing methods. The overall goal is to generate a test that is more representative of the real-world and in turn, replicate the failure mode observed in the field. There are several comparisons completed throughout the study. First, the original test method comes into question as we compare the response of the product during vibration testing to the actual field recordings. Second, a new test is developed based on the input vibration of a variety of field environments the product is exposed to. Finally, the new test is validated by comparing the product’s vibration response to that of the field environment and replicating the same fatigue failure observed in the field via the new test in the laboratory.