An Assessment of the Estimation of weibull Shape Parameter by Sudden-Death Testing

In reliability life testing, when a limited number of test fixtures is available or there are a large number of inexpensive units to be tested, the sudden-death testing technique is a useful tool for collecting and analyzing the test data. In this paper, Monte Carlo simulations are conducted to evaluate the use of sudden-death testing in estimating the Weibull shape parameter. The results of the simulation are tabulated and discussed. Two types of light bulbs are tested using the sudden-death technique and estimates of the Weibull shape parameter are compared.