12/23/2016 TemperatureCyclingTesting:CoffinMansonEquation

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Posted on October 31, 2014 by DES

Temperature cycling testing is another method of accelerated life testing for products that are exposed Categories
to temperature variations during use in normal operation.The temperature variations can be a result of
Accelerated Life Testing
self heating for products that are repeatedly turned on and o, or can be the result of cyclic
Case Study
environmental changes such as temperature variations from day to night or other causes.
Combined Temperature & Vibration
Environmental & Climatic Testing
These repeated temperature changes can result in thermal
HALT & HASS
fatigue and lead to eventual failure after many thermal
MIL-STD-810 Vibration Testing Series
cycles. Accelerated life testing can be performed by cycling
News
the product to high and low temperatures that exceed its
Reliability Testing
normal use temperatures.
Test Standards
It should be noted that temperature cycling may also be Vibration & Shock Testing
referred to as thermal cycling or thermal shock testing. Vibration Testing Services
However, some test standards, such as MIL-STD-883, make the
distinction between temperature cycling being performed as
air to air testing and thermal shock being performed with the Archives
samples transferred between liquids.This article deals with
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testing performed using an air to air thermal cycle chamber.
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October 2016
Typical temperature cycling equipment consists of at least
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one hot chamber and one cold chamber. The test samples are
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automatically transferred between the two chambers by an
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elevator-type mechanism. It is also possible to perform
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temperature cycling in a single compartment chamber where
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the temperature is ramped between hot and cold. This generally produces a slower rate of temperature
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change compared to the two chamber method.
January 2016
The acceleration factor resulting from the temperature cycle test is the ratio of the product life at December 2015
normal operating conditions to the life at accelerated test conditions and is given by the Coin-Manson November 2015
equation: October 2015
September 2015
AF = (T test / T use) m August 2015
July 2015
AF = Acceleration Factor
June 2015
May 2015
March 2015
T test = Test temperature dierence (C)
January 2015
December 2014
T use = Use temperature dierence (C)
November 2014
October 2014
m = Fatigue or Coin-Manson exponent
September 2014
As an example, assume a product that undergoes 5 daily temperature transitions from August 2014
20 C to 60 C (T use = 40 C) while it is normally being used. The following acceleration will occur if the June 2014
May 2014
product is temperature cycle tested using a high temperature of 100 C and a low temperature of -20 C
April 2014
(T test = 120 C),assuming a typical Coin-Manson exponent of 3:
March 2014
February 2014
AF = (120 / 40)3 =27 December 2013
November 2013
Testing this product for 1000 temperature cycles using the accelerated conditions would therefore be
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equal to 15 years of life based on the stated use conditions.
September 2013
August 2013
(27 X 1000 cycles) / ((5 cycles per day) (365 days per year)) = 14.8 years
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However, care must be taken when choosing the test conditions so that both the upper and lower May 2013
temperatures used do not exceed the temperature limits of the product. Doing so can result in failure April 2013
modes that would not occur during normal operating conditions. February 2013

The rate of change between the cold and hot temperatures should also be controlled. Some
specications require that the test specimen reaches the dwell temperature within a given time limit for
each change in temperature.

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12/23/2016 TemperatureCyclingTesting:CoffinMansonEquation
The proper dwell time at temperature extreme must also be considered. In general, the time must be
long enough to allow the part to equilibrate to the air temperature. Larger and heavier parts with a
higher thermal mass will therefore need longer dwell times than lighter and smaller parts with less
thermal mass.

It is also important not to remain at the dwell temperatures for too long of a time, as this can also result
in invalid failure modes. An example of this would be solder creep failure in a circuit board that is
soaked for too long of a time at a temperature too close to the melting point of the solder.

Knowing the correct value for the fatigue or Coin-Manson exponent is also important, as small changes
in this exponent can have larger changes in the acceleration factor. Exponents for many materials have
been reported, and can be found in the literature or on the Internet. It is also possible to experimentally
determine the fatigue exponent by performing multiple tests with dierent values of T test.

Delserro Engineering Solutions, Inc. (DES) has many years of experience performing temperature cycle
testing and can assist customers in setting up a test using the proper test conditions and correlating the
results to time in the eld.

So if you dont know what test conditions you should use, what specication to choose, or how to
correlate your test to eld life, we can help you, because we are reliability testing experts!

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This entry was posted in Vibration & Shock Testing and tagged Reliability Testing, Shock Testing, Testing Services,
Vibration Testing by DES. Bookmark the permalink.

14 thoughts on Temperature Cycling Testing: Coin-Manson

Equation
1. Will Pong on December 4, 2015 at 2:16 am said:
Hi,

I just read your article titled Temperature Cycling Testing: Coin-Manson Equation.
Im interested in knowing more about typical temperature ranges and cycles per day
that a networking chassis would undergo. Also, Im interested in knowing typical coin-manson
coeicients.

http://www.desolutions.com/blog/2014/10/temperature-cycling-testing-coin-manson-equation/

Thanks,
Will

Reply
DES on December 16, 2015 at 1:05 pm said:
Typical temperature ranges for computers/telecom are 0 to 25C to +100C. Typical
number of cycles per day is around 24. Typical assumed coeicients for solder joints are
2.5 2.65.

Reply

2. kang hooi choo on January 28, 2016 at 5:46 am said:

Hi,
Im interested to know experimentally how we can derive the exponent for Coin
Manson equation.

If there are dierent model set up ( eg : of dierent board thickness, dielectric material), does all will
have dierent exponent gure as well?

Reply
DES on March 1, 2016 at 12:54 pm said:
You would have to develop a program testing samples to various temperature cycle
ranges. Then use inverse power law to nd exponent. The samples should be the same.
Most samples need to be tested to failure. Dierent board thickness, dielectric material could
yield dierent exponents.

Reply

3. Ally Quilietti on March 1, 2016 at 11:45 am said:

Hi am I correct saying that this calculation can be used for a xed temperature of say
25C for a period of 2 years.

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Reply
DES on March 1, 2016 at 12:42 pm said:
No the coin-manson equation is for temperature cycling only.

Reply

4. Ally Quilietti on March 1, 2016 at 2:14 pm said:

What can I use to work out xed temperature of say 25C for a period of 2 years.

Reply
DES on March 3, 2016 at 10:34 pm said:
Use the Arrhenius relationship for constant temperature accelerated life
testing. You can learn more at
http://www.desolutions.com/blog/2013/08/constant-temperature-accelerated-life-testing-using-
the-arrhenius-relationship/

Reply

5. lee on May 23, 2016 at 6:35 pm said:

how to calculate FIT from Temperature Cycling testing? please help advise, thanks

Reply

6. Kristoer on July 15, 2016 at 6:01 am said:

What would be the Coin-Manson exponent for a glass-to-cast epoxy interface
delamination?

Reply

7. Paulo Mendoza on August 3, 2016 at 3:13 am said:

Team,

Was wondering if you have a equivalency table on stress for -55/125 vs -65/150.
Appreciate if you could share this info. Thanks!

Reply
DES on August 3, 2016 at 7:00 pm said:
Assume Tuse and exponent (m) are the same for both. Calculate acceleration factor AF1
using -55/125 (Test T= 180), then calculate AF2 using -65/150 (Test T= 215).

Reply

8. Roya on August 24, 2016 at 4:18 pm said:

Hi
I was wondering if I can use the Coin-Manson equation for building insulating
materials? What would be the Coin-Manson exponent?

Reply

9. Tams Molnr on October 2, 2016 at 10:31 am said:

Hello guys!

Im writing my thesis, and Im about to run a thermal shock test for some car lighting
panels. What T use, and m exponent value should I use? Its a normal panel, with
some leds on it, inside the car cabin. I want to test the solder joints.

Thanks for your help beforehand.

Reply

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