{"id":1175,"date":"2015-08-06T13:48:16","date_gmt":"2015-08-06T18:48:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.wika.com\/us\/\/?p=1175"},"modified":"2024-06-06T16:16:44","modified_gmt":"2024-06-06T21:16:44","slug":"understanding-pressure-sensor-failure-reliability","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.wika.com\/us\/products\/pressure-products\/understanding-pressure-sensor-failure-reliability\/","title":{"rendered":"Understanding Why Some Pressure Sensors Fail, and What to Do about It"},"content":{"rendered":"

Electronic pressure sensors can stop working for a variety of reasons. Understanding those reasons is a key step in preventing future\u00a0failures.<\/strong><\/p>\n

A pressure sensor<\/a> plays a key role in the instrumentation of machinery and processes. When sensors fail, the process often fails, sometimes with costly or even catastrophic consequences. That leads to the obvious question of why<\/em>\u00a0some pressure sensors fail while others do not.<\/p>\n

Five Categories of Pressure Sensor Failure<\/h2>\n

When sensors stop working in the field, the reasons fall into five broad categories:<\/p>\n

1. Out-of-box failure<\/h3>\n

Pressure sensors can fail before they\u2019re even commissioned due to faulty materials, poor workmanship, or both.\u00a0Those incidents, often referred to as DOA (dead on arrival), OOB (out of box) failure, or zero miles failures, are very rare, as any reputable manufacturer has quality control systems in place to prevent manufacturing defects.<\/p>\n

Moreover, as pressure sensor production requires several steps, such as assembly and calibration, most issues are caught at the component or sub-assembly level before even getting to the final inspection stage. Testing<\/a> is another important step of the manufacturing process. Products passing the final inspection but failing during transit should occur only at a single-digit dpm (defects per million) rate.<\/p>\n

2. Premature failure<\/h3>\n

Pressure sensors that fail during the warranty period, typically 12 to 24 months, are typically caused by faulty materials or poor workmanship.The more complex the sensor design, the greater its odds of premature failure.\u00a0The number of incidents during the warranty period can be 100 to 1,000 dpm.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Products failing during the warranty period (typically 12-24 months) are also considered faults caused by faulty materials or poor workmanship. Depending on the complexity of a product, the number of incidents during a 1- 2 year interval range from 100 dpm to 1,000 dpm. The premature failure rate is related to the product\u2019s complexity (number of components and process steps in the manufacturing process) and the manufacturer’s ability to control manufacturing processes. As a rule of thumb, the failure rate is correlated with the number of components, connections, and functions:<\/p>\n