Experimental Design

Engineers use reliability experiments to determine the factors that drive product reliability, build robust products, and predict reliability under use conditions. This article uses recent testing of a Howitzer to illustrate the challenges in designing reliability experiments for complex, repairable systems. We leverage lessons learned from current research and propose methods for designing an experiment for a complex, repairable system. Suggested Citation Freeman, Laura J., Rebecca M. Medlin, and Thomas H....

This document outlines the charter for the Committee to Institutionalize Scientific Test Design and Rigor in Test and Evaluation. The charter defines the problem, identifies potential steps in a roadmap for accomplishing the goals of the committee and lists committeemembership. Once the committee is assembled, the members will revise this document as needed. The charter will be endorsed by DOT&E and DDT&E, once finalize. Suggested Citation Freeman, Laura. Statistically Based T&E Using Design of Experiments....

Recently, the principles of Design of Experiments (DOE) have been implemented as amethod of increasing the statistical rigor of operational tests. The focus has been on ensuringcoverage of the operational envelope in terms of system effectiveness. DOE is applicable inreliability analysis as well. A reliability standard, ANSI-0009, advocates the use Design forReliability (DfR) early in the product development cycle in order to design-in reliability. Robustparameter design (RPD) first used by Taguchi and then by the response surface communityprovides insights on how DOE can be used to make a products and processes invariant tochanges in factors....

There has been recent emphasis on the increased use of statistics, including the use of statistically designed experiments, to plan and execute tests that support Department of Defense (DoD) acquisition programs. The use of statistical methods, including experimental design, has shown great benefits in industry, especially when used in an integrated fashion; for example see the literature on Six Sigma. The structured approach of experimental design allows the user to determine what data need to be collected and how it should be analyzed to achieve specific decision making objectives....

In this paper we compare data from a fairly large legacy wind tunnel test campaign to smaller, statistically-motivated experimental design strategies. The comparison, using Monte Carlo sampling methodology, suggests a tremendous opportunity to reduce wind tunnel test efforts without losing test information. Suggested Citation Hill, Raymond R., Derek A. Leggio, Shay R. Capehart, and August G. Roesener. “Examining Improved Experimental Designs for Wind Tunnel Testing Using Monte Carlo Sampling Methods.” Quality and Reliability Engineering International 27, no....