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Stream/Area:
-
Subject:
-
Paper ID:
IJSREM67445
Volume:
10 |
9 |
Sep 2026
Pages:
1-13
Publication Frequency:
Monthly (12 issues per year)
License:International Journal of Scientific Research in Engineering and Management follows the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 (CC BY 4.0) License, allowing free use and distribution with proper attribution.
Mechanical Engineering
Mechanical Engineering
Environmental qualification of automotive electronic assemblies per ISO 16750 often combines vibration, temperature cycling, humidity exposure and electrical loading to accelerate potential field failure mechanisms. Failures observed during such testing are often attributed to deficiencies in product design without due consideration of the influence of the mounting boundary conditions and harness dynamics. This paper describes a detailed root-cause investigation of localized connector pin discoloration in the connector header which is mounted on the picture circuit board assembly of a sheet metal enclosed control module. This pin discoloration was observed during combined environmental validation of an automotive electronic module. Initial observations indicated a vibration-induced degradation mechanism, because of significant resonance amplification in the DUT-fixture system. Resonance characterization showed transmissibility up to 18–25 g/g under rigid fixture conditions. Measures of subsequent fixture correlation reduced resonance amplification by around 50 to 70 percent, suggesting a strong sensitivity to mounting boundary conditions. However, validation retesting demonstrated that optimization of harness fixation alone eliminated recurrence of the observed discoloration, even after removal of resonance-control measures. The results confirmed that harness-induced connector excitation, resulting from unsupported cable inertia and connector micro-motion, represented the primary degradation mechanism, whereas DUT resonance acted only as a secondary contributor. The study demonstrates the importance of representative mounting conditions, harness management, and dynamic system-level assessment during environmental validation and provides a practical methodology for differentiating true product weaknesses from laboratory-induced artifacts.
KEYWORDS
A comprehensive investigation was conducted following observation of localized connector pin discoloration during combined environmental validation. Resonance characterization initially identified significant fixture-induced amplification with transmissibility values up to 25 g/g. Fixture-correlation measures successfully reduced amplification by approximately 50–70%, demonstrating the influence of mounting boundary conditions. However, repeat validation using harness fixation optimization alone completely eliminated recurrence of the observed condition. This result conclusively demonstrated that harness-induced connector excitation was the primary degradation mechanism. The study highlights the importance of distinguishing genuine product weaknesses from laboratory-induced artifacts and provides a structured methodology for root-cause identification in automotive connector reliability investigations. Future work should focus on quantitative correlation between harness inertia, connector micro-motion amplitude, and long-term fretting degradation under combined environmental loading.
A comprehensive investigation was conducted following observation of localized connector pin discoloration during combined environmental validation. Resonance characterization initially identified significant fixture-induced amplification with transmissibility values up to 25 g/g. Fixture-correlation measures successfully reduced amplification by approximately 50–70%, demonstrating the influence of mounting boundary conditions. However, repeat validation using harness fixation optimization alone completely eliminated recurrence of the observed condition. This result conclusively demonstrated that harness-induced connector excitation was the primary degradation mechanism. The study highlights the importance of distinguishing genuine product weaknesses from laboratory-induced artifacts and provides a structured methodology for root-cause identification in automotive connector reliability investigations. Future work should focus on quantitative correlation between harness inertia, connector micro-motion amplitude, and long-term fretting degradation under combined environmental loading.
Publication Date
9/24/2026
Peer Review Type
Double-Blind Peer Review
Review Rounds: 2
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The authors declare no conflict of interest related to this research work.
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