Failure data analysis for tracked vehicles under different environments using principal component analysis

Enhancing vehicle reliability is of paramount importance during the research and development phase, with reliability growth testing playing a crucial role in this process. Traditional reliability growth testing often treats vehicle failures under varying environmental conditions with uniform significance, overlooking the specific impacts these conditions may have on failure occurrence. This paper aims to illuminate the influence of environmental factors on vehicle failures. To explore the relationship between vehicle failures and the contexts in which they occur, Principal Component Analysis (PCA) was employed. The findings indicate that a diversified testing approach, which assigns different levels of importance to various testing scenar ios, is recommended. This approach is likely to yield a more nuanced understanding of vehicle performance and foster a more effective strategy for enhancing reliability.