Failure Threshold

The failure threshold (ger.: Ausfallschwelle) marks the minimum stress level that causes immediate failures of flawless objects (e.g. electronic devices). Below the failure threshold, there is no immediate failure of a flawless object, whereas above the failure threshold the same object fails immediately.

In series production, the typical failure threshold (ger.: typische Ausfallschwelle) is of particular importance. Since the individual failure thresholds of a mass-produced object are naturally subject to process spread, the typical failure threshold of all produced objects is characterized by the distribution of their individual failure thresholds. This distribution represents the typical failure threshold. Below the typical failure threshold, there are no immediate failures of flawless objects, whereas above the typical failure threshold all flawless objects fail immediately.