Author: Gregg K. Hobbs

Publisher: John Wiley & Sons

220 pages

Reviewer: Bob Willis

This book has 220 pages illustrated with diagrams and pictures and is divided into 10 chapters. It also features a glossary of terms which new readers on the subject will find useful. After all, the use of these test methods can be used in a wide range of industries.

The book is an ideal introduction to the concepts and benefits of environmental testing. It provides an overview of problems and limitations and provides solutions. It highlights many of the tests conducted in the industry, indicates where they can be ineffective and suggests alternatives. The author is certainly passionate about the subject.

The first chapter is very informative, offering the basic concepts of failure, an overview of highly accelerated life testing (HALT) and highly accelerated stress screening (HASS), the history of screening and the equipment requirements. The following chapters detail HALT and HASS strategies. Environmental testing has lead to views that passive testing is very ineffective. Using temperature in combination with mechanical testing is far more beneficial in showing design and assembly faults.

Finally, this book shares a familiar criticism among the books I review: too few examples. Illustrating the types and the way failure occurs can be beneficial to explain why we do accelerated testing or in process product stressing. However, the text is easy to read and follow, and it does make the reader want to find out more.

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