Test method for enhanced mechanical shock fragility statistics accuracy

An optimum cushioning package, which is neither excessive nor inadequate, must be designed to ensure cushioning performance that maintains an acceptable failure rate during transportation while also minimizing packaging costs. For this purpose, statistics pertaining to transport hazards and product shock strength must be engaged. The proposed study presents a test method to enhance the statistical accuracy of mechanical shock fragility of products. Sample statistics are invariably unknown; hence, optimum test‐setting values cannot be determined at the beginning. The proposed test method has been devised for determining optimum test‐setting values of the (n + 1)th sample using statistics of n samples being tested. An improvement in the estimation accuracy of the variation coefficient for the critical‐velocity‐change test was confirmed via simulations performed using the proposed method. Optimization of the test‐setting value has also been experimentally confirmed. A comparison of histograms and statistics obtained using experimental results has demonstrated that the proposed method can better estimate distribution shapes compared with the simple method. An example of the application of experimental results to stress‐strength models has also been described. The observed result has a considerable influence on the design of cushioning packages, thereby demonstrating effectiveness of the proposed method.