Life distribution analysis, or life data analysis, is the process of modeling the lifespan of a product, component, or system to predict lifetime or time to failure. This technique enables you to compare materials and manufacturing processes for the product, enabling you to increase the quality and reliability of the product. For example, you can observe failure rates over time to predict when a computer component might fail.
With the Life Distribution platform, you can analyze censored data in which some time observations are unknown. And if there are potentially multiple causes of failure, you can analyze the competing causes to estimate which cause is more influential.
You can use the Reliability Life Testing and Reliability Demonstration calculators to choose the appropriate sample sizes for reliability studies. These calculators are found at DOE > Sample Size Explorers. See “Sample Size Explorers” in the Design of Experiments Guide.