Military Handbooks And Standards  Plus NASA and Nuclear Regulatory Commission Documents Pertaining To Reliability And Life Cycle Cost

Military Handbooks and Standards along with NASA and Nuclear Regulatory Commission documents are here for quick search and download as PDF files. Brief summaries of each document are provided.  You can also see a terse list of the files for download.
            Military Standards (MIL-STD) are generally imposed requirements and give details on what to do.
            Military Handbooks (MIL-HDBK) are generally how to do documents intended to standardize and educate.
            Military/Government (AD) are archive direction numbers for technical documents which can (theoretically) be retrieved from the National Technical Information Service NTIS.
Easy access to important reliability documents is a service to the reliability community by Barringer & Associates, Inc.   If you have other reliability and life cycle cost documents you feel should be included, send an Email notice with their URL’s to Paul Barringer.

AD-A050837  A Redundancy Notebook, December 1997.  68 Pages.  RADC-TR-77-287
            The objective of the report is to present in a coherent fashion the information and tools necessary for the evaluation of most types of redundancy design configurations with which a reliability engineer is faced.  The report contains a number of alternative evaluation approaches, both classical and unique.  Closed form results and algorithms are derived for the evaluation of the reliability of various types of redundant configurations.

DOD3235.1H  Test & Evaluation of System Reliability, Availability, and Maintainability—A Primer , March 1982.  287 Pages.

The purpose of this primer is to provide instruction in the analytical assessment of system reliability, availability, and maintainability (RAM) performance.  This text presents concepts and techniques for designing test plans which can verify that previously established system suitability requirements have been achieved.  Test resource availability may be adversely affected by cost, schedule and operational urgency constraints.  In such cases, alternate test plans which represent the most meaningful, timely and cost effective approach, consistent with these constraints, must be develop.  It is essential that all participants understand the critical issues being addressed and the acquisition risks inherent in conducting a limited test program.  The design and execution of sound test programs is no accident.  It requires numerous hours of research and planning and a thorough understanding of testing techniques, the test system and its operating scenario.  Further, the test results must support the development of realistic performance estimates for the entire production run, after having tested relatively few systems.  Herein lies the usefulness of the statistical concepts contained in this text.  Topics addressed in this text will familiarize the reader with the statistical concepts relevant to test design and performance assessment.  In short, these topics, when combined with common sense and technical expertise formulate the basis of all sound test programs.

 

DOD-HDBK-791  Maintainability Design Techniques, March 1988.  232 Pages

            The purpose of this handbook is to provide Army design engineers with guidelines to assist them in incorporating maintainability into
Army materiel early in research and development.  Information collected from maintenance records provides practical examples—good and bad—that illustrate the design principles that result in maximum maintainability.  The designer can use these principles to build maintainability into materiel and thereby contribute substantially to solving the Army’s maintenance problem.

            Chapter 1 is an introduction to the principle of maintainability, its importance, and methods of achieving it.  The following 10 chapters refer to simplification, standardization and interchangeability, accessibility, modularization, identification and labeling, testability and diagnostics techniques, prevention maintenance, human factors, and environmental factors—describe in detail their role in achieving the maintainability principles.

            Data includes ergonomic details.

 

DOE-NE-STD-1004-92  Root Cause Analysis Guidance Document, February 1992.  69 Pages.

DOE Order 5000.3A, “Occurrence Reporting and Processing of Operations Information,” requires the investigation and reporting of occurrences (including the performance of root cause analysis [RCA]) and the selection, implementation, and follow-up of corrective actions.  The level of effort expended should be based on the significance attached to the occurrence.  Most off-normal occurrences need only a scaled-down effort while most emergency occurrences should be investigated using one or more of the formal analytical models.  A discussion of methodologies, instructions, and worksheets in this document guides the analysis of occurrences as specified by DOE Order 5000.3A.

 

DOD-STD-1701(NS)  Hardware Diagnostic Test System Requirements,  June 1985,  Pages 11 (This is NOT an authentic copy)

            This document establishes the general procedures, terms and conditions governing the preparation and completion of a hardware diagnostic test system (HDTS).  The purpose of this Standard is to establish the development criteria for the preparation and completion of the hardware diagnostic test system for systems, subsystems, and equipments.

 

DOD-STD-2167A  Defense System Software Development, February 1988, Pages 49

            This standard establishes uniform requirements for software development that are applicable throughout the system life cycle.  The requirements of this standard provide the basis for Government insight into a contractor’s software development, testing and evaluation efforts.

            This standard is not intended to specify or discourage the use of any particular software development method.  The contractor is responsible for selecting software development methods (for example, rapid prototyping) that best support the achievement of contract requirements.

            This standard, together with the other DOD and military documents referenced in Section 2, provides the means for establishing, evaluating, and maintaining quality in software and associated documentation.

            Data Item Descriptions (DIDs) applicable to this standard are listed in Section 6.  These DIDs describe a set of documents for recording the information required by this standard.  Production of deliverable data using automated techniques is encouraged.

            Per DODD 5000.43, Acquisition Streamlining, this standard must be appropriately tailored by the program manager to ensur that only cost-effective requirements are cited in defense solicitations and contracts.  Tailoring guidance can be found in DOD-HDBK-248, Guide for Applicable and Tailoring of Requirements for Defense Material Acquisitions.

            The predecessor document is available.  Also available is the cancellation document.  The referenced document MIL-STD-498 is also available along with the cancellation document.

 

DOD-SEFGuide, System Engineering Fundamentals, January 2001, 222 pages.

            This book provides a basic, conceptual-level description of engineering management disciplines that relate to the development and life cycle management of a system.  For the non-engineer it provides an overview of how a system is developed.  For the engineer and project manager it provides a basic framework for planning and assessing system development.  The book is divided into four parts: Introduction; Systems Engineering Process; Systems Analysis and Control; and Planning, Organizing, and Managing.

 

DOE-STD-113499  Review Guide For Criticality Safety Evaluations, September 1999.  23 Pages.

This Department of Energy Standard is approved for use by all DOE criticality safety personnel.  It contains guidelines that should be followed when reviewing Criticality Safety Evaluations that were developed by DOE Contractors to demonstrate the safety of fissile materials handling at DOE Non-Reactor Nuclear Facilities.  Adherence to these guidelines will enhance consistency and uniformity of review of Criticality Safety Evaluations across the DOE complex and compliance with either DOE Order 5480.24 or DOW Order 420.1 requirements.

 

MIL-HDBK-5  Metallic Materials And Elements For Aerospace Vehicle Structures, Rev MIL-HDBK-5H, 1 December 1988.  1653 pages (37 Meg PDF file size!) 

            [Metallic Materials Properties Development and Standardization (MMPDS) prepared by Battelle makes MIL-HDBK-5 obsolete and MMPDS-03 is the current version available in 6 volumes for US$599 for hard copy or US$499 for downloads—please note MMPDS-03 is covered under US Copyright—see http://mmpds.org for further information.]

            MIL-HDBK-5H is intended primarily as a source of design allowables, which are those strength properties of metallic materials and elements (primarily fasteners) that are widely used in the design of aerospace structures.  These metallic materials include all systems potentially useful in aerospace and aircraft applications, including those involving reinforcing components.  This document also contains information and data for other properties and characteristics, such as fracture toughness strength, fatigue strength, creep strength, rupture strength, fatigue-crack propagation rate, and resistance to stress corrosion cracking.  The use of this type of information is not mandatory.

            In addition to the properties of the materials and elements themselves, there are some of the more commonly used methods and formulas by which the strengths of various structural elements or components are calculated.  In some cases, the methods presented are empirical and subject to further refinements.

 

MIL-HDBK-H108  Sampling Procedures And Tables For Life And Reliability Testing (Base on Exponential Distribution),  April 1960. 78 Pages

            This handbook has been prepared to meet a growing need for the use of standard sampling procedures and tables for life and reliability testing in Government procurement, supply, and maintenance quality control operations as well as in research and development activities where applicable. 

            A characteristic feature of most life tests is that the observations are ordered in time to failure.  If, for example, 20 radio tubes are placed on life test, an t1 denotes the time where the ith tube fails, the data occur in such a way that t1t2≤…≤ t20.  The same kind of ordered observations will occur whether the problem under consideration deals with the life of electric bulbs, the life of electronic components, the life of all bearings, or the length of life of human beings after they are treated for a disease.  The examples just given all involved ordering in time.

            In destructive testing involving such situations as the current needed to blow a fuse, the voltage needed to break down a condenser, the force needed to rupture a physical material, the test can often be arranged in such a way that every item in the sample is subjected to precisely the same stimulus (current, voltage, stress).  If this is done, then clearly the weakest item will be observed to fail first, the second weakest next, etc.  While the random variable considered mostly in this handbook is time to failure, it should be emphasized, however, that the methodology provided herein can be adopted to the testing situations mentioned above where the random variable is current, voltage, stress, etc.

 

MIL-HDBK-189  Reliability Growth Management, February 1981.  155 Pages.

This handbook provides procuring activities and development contractors with an understanding of the concepts and principles of reliability growth, advantages of managing reliability growth, and guidelines and procedures to be used in managing reliability growth.  It should be noted that this handbook is not intended to serve as a reliability growth plan to be applied to a program without any tailoring.  This handbook, when used in conjunction with knowledge of the system and its development program, will allow the development of a reliability growth management plan that will aid in developing a final system that meets its requirements and lowers the life cycle cost of the fielded systems. [This document describes the Duane method of reliability growth and becomes the Duane AMSAA methodology which today is described as the Crow-AMSAA reliability growth model.]

 

MIL-HDBK-217F  Reliability Prediction Of Electronic Equipment, January 1990.  205 Pages.
           
The purpose of this handbook is to establish and maintain consistent and uniform methods for estimating the inherent reliability (i.e., the reliability of a mature design) of military electronic equipment and systems.  It provides a common basis for reliability predictions during acquisition programs for military electronic systems and equipment.  It also establishes a common basis for comparing and evaluating reliability predictions of related or competitive designs.  The handbook is intended to be used as a tool to increase the reliability of the equipment being designed.

            The application of this handbook contains two methods of reliability prediction – “Part Stress Analysis” in Sections 5 through 23 and “Parts Count” in Appendix A.  These methods vary in degree of information needed to apply them.  The Part Stress Analysis Method requires a greater amount of detailed information and is applicable during the later design phase when actual hardware and circuits are being designed.  The Parts Count Method requires less information, generally part quantities, quality level, and the application environment.  This method is applicable during the early design phase and during proposal formulation.  In general, the Parts Count Method will usually result in a more conservative estimate (i.e., higher failure rate) of system reliability than the Parts Stress Methods.

            Rome Laboratory – ORACLE is a computer program developed to aid in applying the part stress analysis procedure of MIL-HDBK-217.  Based on environmental use characteristics, piece part count, thermal and electrical stresses, subsystem repair rates and system configuration, the program calculates piece part, assembly and subassembly failure rates.  It also flags overstressed parts, allows the user to perform tradeoff analyses and provides system mean-time-to failure and availability.  The ORACLE computer program software (available in both VAX and IBM compatible PC versions) is available at replacement tape/disc cost to all DoD organizations, and to contractors for application on specific DoD contracts as government furnished property (GFP)  A statement of terms and conditions may be obtained upon written request to: Rome Laboratory/ERSR, Griffiss AFB, NY 13441-5700.  [see SRC’s PRISM software tool]

 

MIL-HBK-251 Reliability/Design Thermal Applications, January 1978, 697 Pages. (54 Meg file size!)

            This handbook has been prepared specifically to guide engineers in the thermal design of electronic equipment with improved reliability.  The primary purposes are: to permit engineers and designers, who are not heat transfer experts, to design electronic equipment with adequate thermal performance with a minimum of effort;  to assist heat transfer experts, who are not electronic experts; to aid designers in better understanding the thermal selection of Department of Defense specification and standards for equipment; and to assist Navy personnel in evaluating thermal design during the various stages of equipment procurement and development.

            This handbook recommends and presents electronic parts stress analysis methods which lead to the selection of maximum safe temperatures for parts so that the ensuing thermal design is consistent with the required equipment reliability.  These maximum parts temperatures must be properly selected since they are the goals of the thermal design, a fact with is often overlooked.  Many thermal designs are inadequate because improper maximum parts temperatures were selected as design goals.  Consequently, the necessary parts stress analysis procedures have been emphasized.

 

MIL-HDBK-259  Life Cycle Cost In Navy Acquisitions, April 1983.  71 Pages.

            This handbook provides basic information on life cycle cost analysis as a management tool for controlling and reducing total costs.  The emphasis is on what the life cycle cost techniques are rather than on how to implement them.  The intent is to furnish an overview of the points to address and the procedures to use when performing life cycle cost analysis so that the analyst, wheter government or contractor, will be better able to conform to the acquisition manger’s objectives.  Without going into great depth, those issues of most interest to the beginner are discussed, thus making this handbook particularly used as an initial step in learning about and understand life cycle cost in Navy acquisitions.  These issues are:
            a.  what is life cycle cost
            b.  what are the objectives and requirements of life cycle cost

c.       what costs are relevant and significant

d.      what are the analysis procedures

e.       what data sources and estimating techniques should be used

f.       when and how to choose or develop a computerized model

Experience has show that these are the most pressing questions for those who are undertaking their first life cycle costing effort, and a document which addresses these questions can, in some measure, help to instill a cost management discipline which will result in more efficient cost reduction and cost control efforts in Navy acquisitions.

 

MIL-HDBK-263B  Electrostatic Discharge Control Handbook For Protection Of Electrical And Electronic Parts, Assemblies and Equipment (Excluding Electrically Initiated Explosive Devices), July 1994.  171 Pages.

            This handbook provides guidance, not mandatory requirements, for the establishment and implementation of an Electrostatic Discharge (EDS) Control Program in accordance with the requirements of MIL-STD-1686.  This document is applicable to the protection of electrical and electronic parts, assemblies and equipment from damage due to ESD.  It does not provide information for the protection of electrically initiated explosive devices.

            Various segments of industry are aware of the damage static electricity can impose on metal oxide semiconductor (MOS) parts.  The sensitivity of other parts to electrostatic discharge damage has also become evident through use, testing, and failure analysis.  Trends in technology utilizing new materials, processes and design techniques, including increased packaging densities result in some parts being more susceptible to ESD.

            Electrical and electronic parts which have been determined to be ESD sensitive (ESDS) include: microelectronic discrete and integrated semiconductor devices; thick and thin film resistors, chips and hybrid devices; and piezoelectric crystals.  Subassemblies, assemblies and equipment containing these parts are also ESDS.

            Materials which are prime generators of electrostatic voltages include, but are not limited to, common plastics such as polyethylene, vinyls, foam, polyurethane, synthetic textiles, fiberglass, glass, rubber, and other commonly used materials.  Damaging electrostatic voltage levels are commonly generated by contact and subsequent separation of these materials by industrial processes and personnel movement.

 

MIL-HDBK-276-1  Life Cycle Cost Model For Defense Materiel Systems Data Collection Workbook, February 1984.  407 Pages.

      This handbook describes the elements to be considered in determining the life cycle cost of a materiel system.  These cost elements and cost factors form the input and output structure of the Life Cycle Cost Model for Defense Materiel Systems.  The handbook is meant to be a workbook for determining life cycle costs.  Normally, a subset of the cost structure contained in this handbook and the Model will be prescribed for any given procurement.  The emphasis is on what costs should be considered in developing life cycle cost estimates for controlling and reducing total costs.  The handbook and the Model are specifically designed to give the analyst and the program manger complete control over the subset of the Model’s cost elements which is applicable to the system being costed and to select the most appropriate cost estimating methodology for each cost element.

 

MIL-HDBK-287  A Tailoring Guide for DOD-STD-2167A, Defense System Software Development, August 1989, 210 Pages.

            This handbook provides guidance to Government program managers and other program office staff responsible for tailoring DOD-STD-2167A for a software development or support contract.  It explains key concepts of DOD-STD-2167A, presents tailoring considerations for DOD-STD-2167A, and describes how to tailor the standard and its associated Data Item Descriptions.

 

MIL-HDBK-338  Electronic Reliability Design Handbook, October 1998.  1042 Pages.

            This Handbook provides procuring activities and development contractors with an understanding of the concepts, principles, and methodologies covering all aspects of electronic systems reliability engineering and cost analysis as they relate to the design, acquisition, and deployment of DoD equipment/systems.  The sections include:

Reference Documents            

Definitions                                         

General Statements

Reliability/Maintainability/Availability Theory

Reliability Specification, Allocation and Prediction
Reliability Engineering Design Guidelines

Reliability Data Collection and Analysis,
     Demonstration and Growth

Software Reliability

Systems Reliability Engineering

Production and Use (Deployment) R&M

R&M Management Considerations

            Special details are described on pages:

·         Pages 987-1042  Section 12: describes reliability management considerations

·         Page 988   describes performance-based specifications for reliability

·         Page 991   describes 10 reliability program management issues from customer and supplier perspectives

·         Page 993   describes a template for reliability program elements

·         Page 1003 describes a checklist for reliability program elements

·         Page 1005 describes how reliability activities are phased into projects

·         Page 1006 describes how reliability activities by life cycle cost phases

·         Page 1012 describes the relationship between reliability and risk reduction with trade-off studies

·         Page 1018 describes software reliability

·         Page 1028 shows a graph with 70-95% of electronic equipment costs determined by the time equipment is specified on the bill of materials and accepted by the design review and a graph showing expenditures incurred during the life cycle.

·         Page 1031 describes life cycle cost concepts and activities performed during the different phases of concept/definition/development/production

·         Page 1032 describes types of product performance agreements

 

MIL-HDBK-344A  Environmental Stress Screening (ESS) Of Electronic Equipment, August 1993  102 Pages.

            This Handbook provides uniform procedures, methods and techniques for planning, monitoring and controlling the cost effectiveness of ESS programs for electronic equipment.  It is intended to support the requirements of MIL-STD-785, Task 301, “Environmental Stress Screening” and/or MIL-STD-781, Task 401, “Environmental Stress Screening: and to implement Air Force R &M 2000 ESS recommendations and guidelines.

            The Handbook is intended for use by procuring activities and contractors during development and production.  It is not intended that the Handbook procedures and techniques be used in a cookbook fashion.  Knowledge of the equipment and the manufacturing process is essential for a properly planned and tailored ESS program.  The data base needed for a systematic approach to ESS application is not fully developed.  Use of the Handbook by Government procuring agencies and equipment manufacturers will foster the development of an improved and broader data base.

            A properly applied ESS program can significantly impact the quality and reliability of electronic products delivered to the Government.  ESS is interrelated with the requirements set forth in MIL-Q-9858, MIL-STD-785, MIL-STD-781, and MIL-HDBK-781.  Quality Control is a manufacturing function and Reliability Engineering is a design function.  Although the Quality and Reliability disciplines are related, in practice, they are conducted as separate programs without common objectives.  The Handbook uses the ESS program as a means for integrating Quality Control and Reliability Engineering tasks so as to assure achievement of reliability objectives during manufacture.  Supporting software is available from Rome Laboratory that fully automates the details manual procedures contained herein.

 

MIL-HDBK-454  General Guidelines For Electronic Equipment, November 2000.  194 Pages.

            This handbook is the technical baseline for the design and construction of electronic equipment for the Department of Defense.  It captures in one document, under suitable subject heading, fundamental design guidelines for multiple general electronic specifications.  The opportunity to focus on a single document, afforded to contractors, results in substantial savings to the Government.

            This handbook provides guidance and lessons learned in the selection of documentation for the design of electronic equipment.  This hand book is for guidance only.  The handbook cannot be cited as a requirement.  If it is, the contractor does not have to comply.

 

MIL-HDBK-470A  Designing And Developing Maintainable Products And Systems, Volume 1 & Volume 2, August 1997.  716 Pages.

            This handbook is approved for use by all Departments and Agencies of the Department of Defense (DoD).  It was developed by the DoD with the assistance of the military departments, federal agencies, and industry and replaces in their entirety Military Handbooks 470 and 471 (both formerly military standards).  The handbook provides guidance to maintainability managers and engineers in developing and implementing a sound maintainability program for all types of products.

            This handbook is for guidance only.  This handbook cannot be cited as a requirement.  If it is, the contractor does not have to comply.

            Maintainability is a discipline that has become more important over the past 30 years as military systems became more complex, support costs increased, and defense budgets decreased.  It is also important in the commercial sector, where high levels of maintainability are increasingly becoming an important factor in gaining customer loyalty.  In fact, American products that once were shunned in favor of foreign alternatives recently have made or are making a comeback.  This shift in consumer preferences has been directly attributed to significant improvements in the quality of the American products, a quality that includes good maintainability.

 

MIL-HDBK-472  Maintainability Prediction, May 1966.  176 Pages.

            The purpose of the Maintainability Prediction Handbook is to familiarize project managers and design engineers with current maintainability prediction procedures.  To achieve this objective, particular care has been exercised in selecting and including only those procedures which are currently used in predicting the maintainability of equipment and systems.  The highlights of each maintainability prediction procedure are presented in a clear, lucid and intelligible manner and include useful supplementary information applicable to specific procedures.

            The prediction of the expected number of hours that a system or device will be in an inoperative or “down state” while it is undergoing maintenance is of vital importance to the user because of the adverse effect that excessive downtime has on mission success.  Therefore, one the operational requirements of a system are fixed, it is imperative that a technique be utilized to predict its maintainability in quantitative terms as early as possible during the design phase.   This prediction should be updated continuously as the design progresses to assure a high probability of compliance with specified requirements.

            A significant advantage of using a maintainability prediction procedure is that it highlights for the designer, those areas of poor maintainability which justify product improvement, modification, or a change of design.  Another useful feature of maintainability prediction is that it permits the user to make an early assessment of whether the predicted downtime, the quality, quantity of personnel, tools and test equipment are adequate and consistent with the needs of system operational requirements.

 

MIL-HDBK-502  Acquisition Logistics, May 1997.  139 Pages.

            The Department of Defense is focusing on total cost of ownership throughout the life cycle.  Achieving affordable support depends upon effective acquisition logistics management and planning.

            This handbook offers guidance on acquisition logistics as an integral part of the systems engineering process.  The information contained herein is applicable, in part or in whole, to all types of materiel and automated information systems and all acquisition strategies.  However, this handbook does not present a “cookbook” approach to acquisition logistics—such an approach would not accommodate the vast, widely varying array of potential materiel acquisitions.  It does offer examples and points to consider to help you shape your overall thought process.  It addresses:

·         How systems engineering fits into the acquisition process

·         Supportability analyses as part of the systems engineering process

·         How to develop supportability requirements

·         The acquisition and generation of support data

·         Logistics considerations for contracts.

·         The logisticians role on integrated product teams.

 

MIL-HDBK-512  Parts Management, October 2000.  13 Pages.

            This handbook provides guidance for implementing an effective Parts Management Program (PMP) on Department of Defense (DoD), industry and commercial acquisitions.  The guidance in this document supports acquisition strategies and systems engineering practices of DoD 5000.2-R.  This document provides performance-based parts management process guidance which is intended to e adapted to individual program needs and which provides appropriate latitude for innovative approaches and design solutions by the contractors.  The objectives of a PMP are to reduce total cost of ownership and increase logistics readiness, and are achieved through:

·         Promoting interoperability.

·         Enhancing the interchangeability, reliability, and availability of parts

·         Minimizing diminishing source impacts and parts obsolescence.

·         Assisting in meeting end item performance.

·         Assisting with parts selection and qualification procedures.

·         Becoming compatible with the business environment and trends.

·         Minimizing the proliferation of parts and drawings through standardization.

 

MIL-HDBK-764  System Safety Engineering Design Guide For Army Materiel, January 1990, 346 Pages.

            Most all of the disciplines involved in the design, engineering, production, and deployment of Army systems are concerned in some way with system safety.  Accordingly, one of the primary functions of the system safety engineer is to integrate the safety-related planning done by various other disciplines.  These other disciplines are responsible for specific categories of safety planning, but their primary responsibilities are for other services.  For example, reliability engineers are concerned with the failure rates of all components in a piece of equipment, whether or not such failures are safety related.

            System safety engineers have found that accidents are caused by adverse environmental effects and by errors in design, production, operations, maintenance, and disposal.  Thus each technical discipline or management activity that can contribute to the elimination or minimization of these accident causes should be integrated into the system safety activities.  Some of the principal technical activities that can affect the safety of a system are:

·         Human Factors Engineering

·         Reliability Engineering

·         Maintainability Engineering

·         Maintenance Engineering

·         Test Engineering

·         Quality Engineering And Control

·         Industrial Hygiene

·         Training

·         System Safety Engineering And Management Activities

·         Contracting

·         Budgeting

·         Legal

            Data includes ergonomic details.

 

MIL-HDBK-781A  Reliability Test Methods, Plans, and Environments for Engineering Development, Qualification, and Production, April 1996.  411 Pages.

            This handbook contains test methods, test plans, and environmental profile data presented in a manner which facilitates their use with tailorable tasks when appropriate.

            The testing of equipment procured for new military systems is an increasingly complex process.  Test methods, test plans, and test environments must be selected which will ensure that contractually required reliability levels are attained in the field and early defect failures are removed prior to field deployment.  MIL-HDBK-781 provides a menu of test plans, test methods, and environmental profiles.  The most appropriate material may be selected for each program and incorporated into the tailored reliability test program.

            The handbook sections on reliability test methods and test plans present methods for growth monitoring, environmental stress screening, mean-time-between-failure assurance testing, sequential tests, fixed-duration tests, and all-equipment tests, including a durability/economic Life Test.  The sections on test environmental profiles provide typical test environments for fixed-ground equipment, mobile ground vehicle, shipboard, jet aircraft, turboprop and helicopter, and missiles and assembled external stores equipment.  The references provided will expand the user’s knowledge and aid in the design and implementation of reliability test programs through more details data.

 

MIL-HDBK-1798 (Superseding MIL-STD-1798) Mechanical Equipment and Subsystems Integrity Program, December 1997, 34 Pages.

            This standard sets forth programmatic tasks for the development, acquisition maintenance, modification, and operation of mechanical equipment and mechanical elements of airborne, support and training subsystems to assure operation soundness, dependability and affordability throughout the life cycle of Air Force Systems.  The Mechanical Equipment and Subsystems Integrity Program, MECSIP, consists of a series of disciplined time phased actions, procedures, analyses, tests, etc., which when developed and applied in accordance with this standard will ensure more reliable, affordable, and supportable equipment and subsystems, thus contributing to the enhancement of total systems mission effectiveness and operational suitability.

 

MIL-HDBK-1823  Nondestructive Evaluation System Reliability Assessment, April 1999.  112 Pages.

            This handbook provides uniform guidance requirements for establishing NDE procedures used to inspect new or in-service hardware for which a measure of NDE reliability is required.  They are, specifically, Eddy Current (EC), Fluorescent Penetrant (PT), Ultrasonic (UT), and Magnetic Particle (MT) Testing.  This document may be used for other NDE procedures if they are similar in output to those listed herein, such as Radiographic testing, Holographic testing, Shearographic testing, etc. 

            NDE systems are classified into either of two categories: those which produce only qualitative information as to the presence or absence of a flaw, i.e., hit/miss data, and systems which also provide some quantitative measure of the size of the indicated flaw, i.e., â vs. a data .

 

MIL-HDBK-2084  Handbook For Maintainability Of Avionic And Electronic Systems And Equipment, July 1995, 34 pages.

            This document was originally MIL-STD-2084 before designation as a handbook.

            Maintainability is an attribute of design and is a measure of the ease, rapidity, and accuracy with which systems or equipment can be restored to operation status following failure or repair.  A high degree of readiness and availability of avionic and electronic systems and equipment can be assured only when their design allows for positive and accurate identification of operational status, and when items are found defective, rapid and efficient fault isolation, removal, replacement, and subsequent repair.

            The special features designed and built into systems which make them easy to maintain and efficient to support result when maintainability is clearly defined as a system requirement and the maintainability program is established as a functional area of design.  The purpose of this standard [handbook] is not to subrogate the maintainability program requirements of MIL-STD-470, but merely to amplify the design criteria requirements of the maintainability program and to emphasize maintainability by design.

            Under the concept of maintainability by design, emphasis is placed on those design areas which tend to have the greatest influence on ease of maintenance.  This includes requirements for modularization, replacement at higher levels, and increased depth of localization.  These physical and technical considerations of maintainability design are necessary if complex avionic and electronic systems and equipment are to be supported efficiently at all levels of maintenance.

 

MIL-HDBK-2164A  Environmental Stress Screening Process, June 1996.  45 Pages.

            This handbook provides guidelines for Environmental Stress Screening (ESS) of electronic equipment, including environmental screening conditions, durations of exposure, procedures, equipment operation, actions taken upon detection of defects, and screening documentation.  These guidelines provide for a uniform ESS process that may be utilized for effectively disclosing manufacturing defects in electronic equipment caused by poor workmanship and faulty or marginal parts.  It will also identify design problems if the design is inherently fragile or if qualification and reliability growth tests were too benign or not accomplished.  The most common stimuli used in ESS are temperature cycling and random vibration.  A viable ESS program must be dynamic; th