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Determining the thermal stress limit of LED lamps using highly accelerated
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Article  in  Applied Thermal Engineering · April 2016

DOI: 10.1016/j.applthermaleng.2016.04.012

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 Applied Thermal Engineering 102 (2016) 1451–1461

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

Applied Thermal Engineering

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/apthermeng

Research Paper

Determining the thermal stress limit of LED lamps using highly

accelerated decay testing
Miao Cai a, Daoguo Yang a,⇑, Yuezhu Mo a, Jianlin Huang b, Luqiao Yin c, Lianqiao Yang c, Xianping Chen a,
Wenbin Chen a, Guoqi Zhang b
a
School of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering, Guilin University of Electronic Technology, Guilin 541004, China
b
Delft Institute of Microsystems and Nanoelectronics (Dimes), Delft University of Technology, Mekelweg 6, 2628CD Delft, The Netherlands
c
Key Laboratory of Advanced Display and System Applications, Shanghai University, Shanghai 200072, China

h i g h l i g h t s

Highly accelerated decay testing (HADT) for LED lamps is proposed.

The abnormal thermal stress level can be analyzed with the step-fitting procedure.

The thermal stress limit (TSL) of LED light engines is further detected by the HADT.

The SSADT effectively accelerates the decay process of lamps within the achieved TSL.

The proposed HADT has significant potential use in the qualification of LED lamps.

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: Highly accelerated decay testing (HADT) based on the subsystem isolation method for light-emitting
Received 20 December 2015 diode (LED) lamps is proposed. The proposed test identifies the desired thermal stress limit (TSL) in a
Revised 10 March 2016 given humidity stress for LED light engine subsystems. In HADT, a monitoring procedure for the in situ
Accepted 2 April 2016
pseudo-junction temperature (Tpj) of LED lamps and a step-fitting analysis procedure for the monitored
Available online 25 April 2016
parameters are suggested to detect abnormal thermal stress levels. The obtained TSL is applied to step-
stress accelerated degradation testing (SSADT) to verify the uniform decay mechanisms at various stress
Keywords:
levels. Results show that the goodness-of-step fit analysis of the monitored parameters effectively iden-
Thermal stress limit
Highly accelerated decay testing
tifies the abnormal thermal stress levels. Consequently, the TSL of LED light engines can be clearly
LED lamp observed through the in situ Tpj and optical parameters monitored in HADT. The application study shows
Step-stress accelerated degradation testing that SSADT rapidly and effectively accelerates the decay process of LED lamps, and the tested samples
Subsystem isolation method undergo uniform decay mechanisms at three reasonable stresses, which are selected based on the
Degradation mechanism obtained TSL. The proposed HADT has significant potential use in the qualification specification of LED
lamps.
Ó 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction
Light-emitting diodes (LEDs) have received increasing attention
for their advantages over traditional light sources, such as high
luminous efficiency, energy saving, and long lifetime [1]. However,
more than 70% of the input electrical energy is converted into heat
in general commercial products [2]. As the power density continu-
ously increases, heat generation in the active layers of LEDs pro-
duces overheated p–n junctions. The temperature of a p–n
junction, referred to as junction temperature (Tj), is regarded as a
⇑ Corresponding author.
E-mail address: daoguo_yang@163.com (D. Yang).
key indicator of LED reliability. Given their high Tj, LED products
suffer from numerous problems, such as quantum efficiency droop,
spectral shift, and color shift, and early decommissioning [3]. The
thermal reliability of LED products has recently become a huge
concern.
The lifetime of an LED lamp is defined by the Illuminating Engi-
neering Society (IES) under their standards LM-79 and LM-80. The
IES testing procedures are time consuming. For example, LM-80
requires at least 6000 h of testing to generate reliable long-term
predictions [4]. Although IES LM-84 and TM-28 require only a min-
imum of 3000 h of testing [5], the test duration still seems consid-
erably long for the rapid development of LED products. In recent
years, researchers have developed some reliability models for

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.applthermaleng.2016.04.012
1359-4311/Ó 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
1452 M. Cai et al. / Applied Thermal Engineering 102 (2016) 1451–1461

extrapolating the lifetime of LED lamp systems. Examples of such obtained TSL for Lamp B is applied to step-stress accelerated degra-
reliability models include a generic system-level approach [6], an dation testing (SSADT) to verify the uniform decay mechanisms at
approach using a design for reliability [7], a hierarchical life- various stress levels.
prediction model [8], and a nonlinear filter-based approach [9].
However, long-term luminous depreciation testing and/or complex
2. Methodology
reliability modeling cannot be avoided in implementing these
methods. To reduce the reliability assessment duration, a hybrid
The subsystem isolation method for LED lamps and the HADT
method of applied thermal modeling and temperature measure-
method to find the TSL for light engine subsystems are described
ment was recently proposed to project the long-term lumen main-
in this section. The in situ Tj monitoring procedure for LED lamps
tenance of LED lamps [10]. Furthermore, given the complex system
and the step-fitting analysis procedure for the monitored parame-
integration of LED lamps, the entire system has been separated into
ters are also introduced. The SSADT used to verify the uniform
several subsystems, such that each subsystem can undergo a reli-
decay mechanisms of various stresses is elucidated at the end of
ability test using the highest possible stress levels; a step-stress
this section.
accelerated degradation method for LED lamps has also been
developed [11]. The lumen maintenance lifetimes of self-
ballasted LED lamps at three temperatures have also been com- 2.1. Subsystem isolation method for LED lamps
pared with those of an LED package through simple linear regres-
sion analysis [12]. The duration of accelerated reliability tests can When the LED lamp fails during a high thermal stress test, the
be reduced effectively when the highest possible stress levels are electronic driver component fails before the LED module does [7],
applied. Ignacio et al. [13] presented a reliability test for LEDs using which is normally the result of the TSL gap between subsystems.
an overstress life test method; however, in evaluating the reliabil- Given the complex system integration of LED lamps, the entire sys-
ity of portable lamps, very few lamps passed the tests. The majority tem is divided into several subsystems, such that each subsystem
of previous reliability studies on LEDs or LED lamps evidently face can undergo a reliability test using the highest possible stress
the common challenging task of identifying the operating thermal levels. As Fig. 1 shows, the lamp system is divided into three sub-
stress limit (TSL) for the said lamps. systems: driver, fixture, and LED light engine or source. The light
Highly accelerated life testing (HALT), which was formulated in engine subsystem consists of the lamp cover, LED module, and heat
the United States in the 1980s, is an experimental testing scheme sink. All these parts affect the light and thermal performances of
that reveals the design weaknesses of electronic devices by sub- the LED module during operation.
jecting them to vibration, extreme constant temperature, and ramp In this study, accelerated tests, including HADT and SSADT, are
temperature stresses. This test is best used in product develop- conducted on the LED light source only. The LED light source is
ment. For a thermal HALT, the thermal step stress usually begins placed in a thermal chamber and connected to other subsystems
at ambient temperature, and a step increment of 10 °C or higher outside the aging furnace. Thus, the highest possible stress level
is implemented when appropriate. The thermal step stress test is for the LED light source can be reached.
continued until the operational limit of the samples is determined
or the chamber maximum is achieved [14]. The dwell time at a 2.2. HADT for LED lamps
temperature of each step must be sufficiently long to ensure the
complete stabilization and saturation of all the components [15]. The weak points of LED products consist of the parts or posi-
HALT was specified in the international norm ISO16290 and US tions in the entire product that are easiest to degrade, and are thus
General Motors standard GMW8287 [15]. It is currently applied common concerns in accelerated degradation tests. From the start-
extensively in mechanical and electronic engineering, such as in ing point of the degradation process, the degradation of the weak
the qualification of embedded planar capacitors and multilayer points of an LED product results from numerous subtle degrada-
ceramic capacitors [16,17]. HALT can help detect the upper thermal tions that accumulate slowly under a certain law. The slow degra-
destruction limit of products in the design phase. For LED products dation process is maintained under an acceptable law with similar
with long life and degrading feature, a safe operating TSL, below degradation mechanisms, while the product is subjected to ambi-
which product decay mechanisms are the same or similar, is more ent conditions without exceeding the upper TSL; this process rep-
useful, especially in accelerated reliability testing. Most previous resents a regular degradation. However, the regular degradation
studies on the high thermal stress for LEDs are usually conducted law suddenly accelerates or changes when the upper TSL is
at temperatures higher than 200 °C to analyze failure mechanisms
(FMs) [18–21]. Liu et al. [22] investigated the effects of high-
temperature (150 °C) aging on the optical and electrical perfor-
mances of vertical-structured LEDs and observed that the luminous
efficiency droop exceeded 40% at a measuring current of 350 mA
after 493 h aging. However, temperatures higher than 150 °C are
seldom encountered in the accelerated reliability testing of LED
lamps at the system level. Thermal reliability below 150 °C is more
feasible for LED lamps. The determination of the desired upper TSL
for LED lamps has become a meaningful task that must be con-
ducted prior to an accelerated testing.
This work aims to determine the desired TSL in a given humidity
stress for LED lamps and propose a highly accelerated decay testing
(HADT) based on the subsystem isolation method for LED lamps.
Two types of commercial LED lamps are investigated and referred
to as Lamps A and B. In HADT, a monitoring procedure for the in situ
pseudo-junction temperature of LED lamps and a step-fitting anal-
ysis procedure for the monitored parameters are suggested to
detect the abnormal thermal stress level. Furthermore, the Fig. 1. Diagram of the subsystems of the LED lamp [11].
 M. Cai et al. / Applied Thermal Engineering 102 (2016) 1451–1461 1453

exceeded and applied to the weak point of the product. As a result,
the instantaneous failure or sudden decay of the LED thermal or
optical parameters occurs. Thus, HADT for LED lamps is proposed
in this study.
A schematic of the relationship among stress level, stress limit,
and HALT testing is provided in Fig. 2. The existing HALT can help
identify the upper thermal destruction limit of products [15], and
the product design limit can be fixed when a reasonable destruc-
tion redundancy is considered. In actual situations, a product
should operate within its design limit but not exceed its operating
limit. The operating redundancy should also be provided for a flex-
ible application or for warning purposes. The operating upper limit
(TSL) is crucial for LED products to maintain dedicated degradation
mechanisms in long-term operations. Observing only the failure or
destructive data of LED products with the advantage of long life is
impractical. LED products have the advantage of long life and
mainly show a degraded feature in applications and/or aging tests.
Thus, HADT, which is expected to possess a similar goal and stress-
loaded process as HALT, is proposed in this study to monitor the
change trend of optical parameters or Tj of LED lamps and identify
the abnormal thermal stress level. The upper TSL below which the
decay mechanisms are the same or similar can be derived in HADT.
As Fig. 3 shows, the HADT stress profile consists of multi-step
thermal stresses (an increment of 5 °C or 10 °C per step from
45 °C to 130 °C, with a total of 12 steps). In accordance to the sub-
system isolation method, the LED light source is placed in a ther-
mal chamber and connected to other subsystems outside the
aging furnace, as shown in the inset in Fig. 3. A 12 h dwell time
is applied to ensure that all the components of the LED lamps are
working at a steady state at each step. For high-power LED mod-
ules, one of the critical FMs is the chemical degradation of LED
packages with the subsequent worsening of their optical properties
[23]. A previous study proved that the increase in stress tempera-
ture results in an increase in the degradation rate [23]. Further-
more, moisture is a factor that accelerates the degradation
process in actual operating environments [24], and the maximum
moisture concentration inside the package may be greater for a
device under operating conditions, even though the local environ-
ment has lower humidity [25]. Given the current study’s goal of
speeding up the accelerated testing process for LED light engines
with package-related FMs, the thermal accelerated tests are simul-
taneously conducted at a constant humidity. As Fig. 3 shows, a con-
stant humidity (85% RH, before 100 °C) is introduced in the HADT
process. Prior to HADT, short aging tests with/without constant
humidity are also conducted on additional units to determine the
sensitivity of LED lamps to humidity stress.
Two types of commercial 12 W LED spotlight lamps (Lamps A
and B) from separate vendors are used in this work. The outline

Fig. 2. Schematic of the relationship among stress level, stress limit, and HALT testing.

Fig. 3. HADT stress profile (inset: schematic of the test setup for LED lamps).
1454 M. Cai et al. / Applied Thermal Engineering 102 (2016) 1451–1461
Fig. 4. Schematic of (a) LED Lamp A and (b) LED Lamp B.
and main component list of LED Lamps A and B are shown in Fig. 4.
The lamps are composed of the LED module, driver, optical part,
heat sink, and fixture. The driver is located inside the lamp, which
operates under 220 V input voltage and a constant output current.
For the LED module of Lamp A, eight InGaN/GaN LED packages in
series are soldered on a copper substrate with a multi-hole struc-
ture that enhances its heat dissipation capability. For Lamp B, nine
InGaN/GaN LED packages in series are soldered to an aluminum
alloy substrate. For each type of LED lamp, two steady samples
are selected by confirming their steady optical performances in a
period of four consecutive days and then subjected to HADT. Two
additional lamps are selected for the short aging tests with/with-
out humidity stress.
The steady-performance sample from each vendor is selected as
the benchmark sample to ensure that the measurement conditions
are controlled at readout time. These benchmark samples are not
subjected to any ambient stress, but their optical parameters are
measured to confirm that the ambient condition is always steady.
The optical parameters of the LED lamps are measured before and
after the stresses are loaded. The samples are cooled down in room
condition (25 °C) for 2 h after pulling them out from the thermal
chamber, and the light parameters are measured with an integrat-
ing sphere (following the IES LM-79 test method) after lighting
samples for 30 min under stable conditions.
2.3. Monitoring the in situ pseudo-junction temperature of LED lamps
LED Tj measurement methods can generally be divided into
thermal, optical, and electrical measuring methods based on a con-
crete measured parameter. Examples of such methods include
measuring directly with an embedded microsensor along the LED
chip [26], determining Tj through the stable linear relationship
between Tj and LED light power [27,28] and the relationship of Tj
to the peak wavelength or blue/white ratio of LED devices with
self-excited photoluminescence signal [29], or to the reverse cur-
rent in InGaN LEDs [30]. Among the Tj measurement methods, the
pulsed junction temperature measurement (PJTM) is the most
appealing [31–33]. PJTM is based on the evident linear relationship
between LED Tj and its associated voltage at a certain temperature
range and the forward current.
In this work, an LED module is regarded as a pseudo-LED pack-
age, and PJTM is conducted on the entire LED module with all the
LED packages. By comparison, the Tj values of all the LED packages
are measured following the same PJTM procedure. The measure-
ment accuracy of Tpj during the experimental study is 60.5 °C.
The pseudo-junction temperature (Tpj) of the LED module is
expected to represent the highest among all the Tj values of the
LED packages in the LED module at each ambient temperature. In
the proposed HADT procedure, the in situ Tpj values of the LED
lamps are monitored twice per step after 1 h and 11 h testing. Fur-
thermore, the Tpj is regarded as a key parameter in determining the
TSL for an LED light source subsystem.
2.4. Detection of the TSL based on monitored parameters
The monitored parameters, along with the same or similar
decay mechanisms, are assumed to exhibit a regular change trend,
which obeys a function U that can be achieved with a parametric
estimation algorithm. A function-fitting procedure provides a sat-
isfactory goodness of fit based on the monitored parameters (yi)
when an objective function U is given. In accordance with this
assumption, as the thermal stresses in HADT increase, the step
accumulated function fitting with a uniform or close goodness of
fit can help guarantee that the stresses are below the maximum
operating stress limit, in which the product degradation mecha-
nisms are the same or similar. Thus, the operating thermal upper
limit can be detected by monitoring the goodness of fit (Ri), defined
as the goodness of step fit (GSF), with all the accumulated data
points in the step-loaded stresses (Si) considered.
In the HADT procedure, two data points from the initial and ter-
minal measurements can be obtained at an individual Si, tabled
with (si, yi,1) and (si, yi,2) respectively. The first GSF (R1) can be
achieved by applying a parametric estimation algorithm (e.g., least
squares method) to the objective function U when S1 and S2 testing
are finished and four data points are obtained. In the same way, the
second GSF (R2) can be received by applying a parametric estima-
tion algorithm to the objective function U when S1, S2, and S3 test-
ing are finished and six data points are obtained. After HADT
testing, the series of GSF (Y) of each sample can then be expressed
with the following equation:
 M. Cai et al. / Applied Thermal Engineering 102 (2016) 1451–1461 1455

In accordance with this study’s objective of speeding up the

accelerated testing process for LED lamps, and on the basis of the
operating upper TSL in 85% RH humidity for the light engine sub-
system from the HADT procedure, the highest thermal stress is
selected for the SSADT. The stress profile of SSADT with three TSLs
(S1, S2, and S3) for Lamp B is then designed reasonably. As shown
in Fig. 6, the stress profile consists of a constant humidity and
three-step thermal stresses. In the inset of Fig. 6, the light source
subsystem is accelerated inside a thermal chamber and connected
to the other subsystems outside the chamber. The humidity at all
the stress levels is 85% RH. A total of eight lamps are subjected to
SSADT. The test duration of each stress phase can be achieved using
the accelerated factor with the same degradation quantity at each
stress level [35].

2.5.2. Verification of the uniform decay mechanisms at various stress

levels
Fig. 5. Schematic of the step fit. The following composite exponential model [37] is used to
describe the degradation path of LED lamps and conduct a reliabil-
ity extrapolation:
Y ¼ fR1 ; R2 ; R3 ; . . . ; Ri1 g; ð2 6 i 6 mÞ ð1Þ
LðtjSi Þ ¼ expfbi t a g; 16i6m ð2Þ
where

8
>   Us1 s2
>
> ðs1 ; y1;1 Þ; ðs1 ; y1;2 Þ; ðs2 ; y2;1 Þ; ðs2 ; y2;2 Þ ) R1
>
>
>
>
fitting
>
>  Us1 s3
>
>
>
> ðs1 ; y1;1 Þ; ðs1 ; y1;2 Þ; ðs2 ; y2;1 Þ; ðs2 ; y2;2 Þ; ðs3 ; y3;1 Þ; ðs3 ; y3;2 Þ ) R2
< fitting

>   Us1 s4

>
> ðs1 ; y1;1 Þ; ðs1 ; y1;2 Þ; ðs2 ; y2;1 Þ; ðs2 ; y2;2 Þ; ðs3 ; y3;1 Þ; ðs3 ; y3;2 Þ; ðs4 ; y4;1 Þ; ðs4 ; y4;2 Þ ) R3
>
>
>
>
fitting
>
> ...
>
>  Us1 s
>
>
: ðs1 ; y1;1 Þ; ðs1 ; y1;2 Þ; . . . ; ðsi ; yi;1 Þ; ðsi ; yi;2 Þ ) i Ri1 ; ð2 6 i 6 mÞ
fitting

where Us1si is the objective function that depends on the relation-
ship between the monitored parameters and the loaded stress.
Beginning with the second-step stress (S2), the accumulated data
points (si, yi,1) and (si, yi,2) are fitted using a parametric estimation
method based on the objective function, and the GSF (Ri) of each
step stress can be obtained subsequently. As illustrated in Fig. 5,
the GSF of the previous three steps are uniform, whereas the fourth
GSF exhibits a sudden decline, which indicates that the regular
change trend in the three previous steps is modified with new
decay mechanisms. In this study, the GSF series is employed to
determine the operating thermal upper limit of the LED light
engine by monitoring its sudden or significant decline.
2.5. Application and validation of the TSL
where the parameter bi depends on stress level Si, and a is a value
associated with the decay mechanism of accelerated products and
is capable of detecting the stress limit in the reliability test [35].
Normally, a depends on the product used; it is constant and inde-
pendent of stress. In this study, a indicates that the stress levels
are within the stress range that induces the same degradation
mechanism in the LED lamp.
The tested light source subsystem is assumed to have a
‘‘memory-less property,” which indicates that the degradation rate
of the light source depends only on the ongoing stress and not on
the history of the process. Thus, when xi is defined as the start
time of the degradation path for stress Si, the degradation relation-
ship of stress Si to Si+1 can be expressed as follows [35]:
Lðxiþ1 jSiþ1 Þ ¼ Lðxi þ t iþ1  ti jSi Þ ð3Þ

2.5.1. SSADT On the basis of Eqs. (2) and (3), the following equation can be
SSADT methods have advantages, such as suitability for long-life derived:
products, short testing times, and small sample size, which make
a
t iþ1  t i þ xi
them more suitable for LED products [34,35]. In previous studies biþ1 ¼ bi  ð4Þ
xiþ1
[11,36], the effective degradation paths reveal that a fast lifetime
qualification procedure can be developed for LED lamp systems Thus, the following equations can be obtained using Eqs. (2) and
using step-stress testing. (4):

(
ln b1 þ a1  ðln tÞ; ðt 1 6 t 6 t 2 Þ
lnð lnðL1 ðtÞÞÞ ¼ h   i ð5Þ
t m tm1 þxm1
ln bm1 þ ai  ln xm þ lnðt  t m þ xm Þ ; ðt m 6 t 6 t mþ1 ; m P 2Þ
1456 M. Cai et al. / Applied Thermal Engineering 102 (2016) 1451–1461

Fig. 6. SSADT profile (inset: schematic of the test setup for LED lamps).

In this work, humidity stress is introduced as an acceleration value of a at each stress level exactly denotes whether or not the
factor in thermal accelerated tests. Thus, Peck’s model (t = C  eEa/- thermal stresses selected for the lamp are suitable for use in SSADT.
kT
 Hk) combined with the Arrhenius temperature reaction model Ensuring that the degradation mechanism at each stress level is
(t = C  eEa/kT) and the humidity reaction part (Hk) should be con- under control is critical. Fig. 7 shows the schematic diagram for
sidered. However, given that humidity stress is constant among verifying the decay mechanisms at different stress levels. During
all step-loaded thermal stresses in the SSADT, the humidity reac- the accelerated test at different stress levels, the change in the
tion part (Hk) is a constant, whereas humidity acceleration reac- value of a (aD, the slope) should be maintained within an accept-
tions are assumed to be the same in all stresses. Peck’s model able range, generally between 0 and 0.2. In this study, a change
can then be presented with the Arrhenius reaction rate model of 0.1 is applied (aD 6 0.1).
[t = (C  Hk)  eEa/kT = C1  eEa/kT]. Therefore, before the process of
transferring the high-humidity reaction to that of room humidity 3. Results and discussions
to calculate the real lifetime of LED lamps at room ambience, the
following Arrhenius reaction rate model is adopted to represent 3.1. TSL of LED lamps
the relationship between parameter bi and stress Si [38]:

The benchmark samples without any stress loaded are sub-
Ea
bi ¼ exp c  ð273 þ Si Þ ; 16i6m ð6Þ jected to optical measurements each time to confirm that the room
k
ambience and test setup are steady and the same as their initial
states. According to the results of the optical measurements for
where c is a fitted constant, Ea is the activation energy (in eV), and k
the benchmark samples, the average error of optical measurements
is Boltzmann’s constant (8.6173  105 eV/K).
from the ambience and test setup is 63.87%. When the possible
The normalized sequence Hi (t) can be obtained with the lumi-
errors from the tester deviation (62%) and an additional deviation
nous flux derived during SSADT. Subsequently, the parameters bi
from the testing process (62%) are considered, the confidence level
and ai can be fitted with Eqs. (5) and (6) by minimizing the residual
of all the experimentally derived data in this study should be
error of the least square estimator. Detailed steps to assess the
approximately 90%.
residual error and detailed descriptions of the lifetime extrapola-
tion of LED lamps are provided in Refs. [35,11]. The independent

Fig. 7. Schematic for verifying the uniform decay mechanisms at different stress Fig. 8. Lumen maintenance of the LED light engine subsystem with/without loading
levels [35]. constant humidity.
 M. Cai et al. / Applied Thermal Engineering 102 (2016) 1451–1461
Fig. 9. Comparison of the Tj and Tpj values of the LED packages in the module (inset: schematic of the LED module with six LED packages in series).
3.1.1. Sensitivity of LED lamps to humidity stress
Previous studies have indicated that moisture is a factor that
accelerates the degradation process of LED devices in actual oper-
ating environments [24,25]. Based on the subsystem isolation
method, short aging tests with/without constant humidity (85%
RH) are conducted on two additional units of each type of LED lamp
before performing HADT. As illustrated in Fig. 8, a twofold increase
in degradation rate, especially for Lamp B, can be achieved when
humidity stress is introduced in accelerated testing. Although the
sensitivities of different LED lamps to humidity stress differ, the
humid condition has a significant role in accelerating the degrada-
tion process of the light engine subsystem. Thus, humidity stress
should be involved in the accelerated testing of the light engine.
In this work, including 85% RH constant humidity in the thermal
profiles of HADT and SSADT is reasonable to accelerate the degrada-
tion process.
3.1.2. In situ monitoring of Tpj
With an LED module regarded as a pseudo-LED package, PJTM is
conducted on the entire LED module with all the LED packages. As
shown in Fig. 9, the Tpj of the LED module can exactly represent the
highest among all Tj values of the LED packages in the LED module
at each ambient temperature. Thus, PJTM can be utilized for an LED
lamp if the LED package array of a lamp in series is regarded as a
pseudo-LED package. The linear fitting for the Tpj of the LED module
likewise implies that the relationship (UTpjTa) between Tpj and
Fig. 10. Pseudo-junction temperatures of LED lamps in HADT.
1457
ambient temperature (Ta) is clearly linear. The linear relationship
(UTpjTa) of the in situ monitored Tpj and Ta can be regarded as an
objective function in the step-fitting process.
The in situ Tpj of the LED lamp is monitored in the proposed
HADT procedure, as shown in Fig. 10. Two data points are mea-
sured for ten stress levels: 55 °C, 75 °C, 85 °C, 95 °C, 105 °C,
110 °C, 115 °C, 120 °C, 125 °C, and 130 °C. According to the known
linear relationship (UTpjTa) of the in situ monitored Tpj and Ta, the
four data points accumulated from stress levels 55 °C (S1) and 75 °C
(S2) are linearly fitted using the least square estimator, and then
the first GSF (R1) can be obtained. The GSF series can be generated
following the proposed step-fitting procedure for all the in situ
monitored Tpj. The GSF values of all the tested units are plotted
in Fig. 11. The inset of Fig. 11 shows the GSF values of the Tpj of
Lamp A #1 beginning with six accumulated stress levels.
The Tpj values are unstable after the ambient temperature
reaches 115 °C, and the two types of LED spotlights show similar
trends, as shown in Fig. 10. The GSF plot, as shown in Fig. 11, illus-
trates sudden and significant changes in all the tested units. The
GSF values of Lamps A #1, A #2, and B #2 do not change before
loading 115 °C, implying that the LED light engines may have been
operating with the same or similar decay mechanisms within the
110 °C ambience. The GSF of Lamp B #1 exhibits a more consider-
able but regular change than those of other lamps within the
110 °C ambience. However, the GSF value of Lamp B #1 also expe-
riences a sudden reduction at a thermal loading of 115 °C. Evi-
dently, the 110 °C ambience is the operating thermal upper limit
of LED light sources. The GSF values of the in situ monitored Tpj
show promising results of the TSL determination for LED lamps.
3.1.3. Optical performance
In the HADT process, the optical parameters are measured at the
beginning and after seven stress levels: 45 °C, 65 °C, 85 °C, 110 °C,
120 °C, 125 °C, and 130 °C. As shown in Fig. 12, the lumen mainte-
nance of the LED light engines exhibits a sudden decline when the
loaded stress is approximately 120 °C. The step-fitting procedure is
employed to analyze the lumen maintenance data and conse-
quently clarify the trend. Given that the dwell time at each stress
level within the TSL is insufficient to cause a significant degrada-
tion in the light engine, the optical parameters are supposed to
be unchanged or to be close to the initial status because all the
optical parameters are measured under room condition. Therefore,
the linear relationship between lumen maintenance and thermal
stress should be regarded as an objective function in the step-
1458 M. Cai et al. / Applied Thermal Engineering 102 (2016) 1451–1461

Fig. 11. Goodness of step fit of Tpj with ten accumulated thermal stress levels (inset: goodness of fit of the Tpj of Lamp A #1 beginning with six accumulated stress levels).

Fig. 12. Lumen maintenance and goodness of step fit of the luminous flux with seven accumulated thermal stress levels (inset: goodness of step fit of the luminous flux of
Lamp A #2).

fitting procedure. The step-fitting process of the luminous flux of
Lamp A #2 is presented in the inset of Fig. 12. All the GSF values
of the lumen maintenance data are also plotted in Fig. 12. A clear
change point, similar to the results of Tpj GSF, can be observed for
Lamps A #2 and B #2 when the stress is higher than 110 °C. By con-
trast, the upper limit is approximately 120 °C for Lamp A #1, and a
change point for Lamp B #1 is not obvious. Evidently, based on the
luminous flux performance, a common operating upper limit for all
the units is around 110 °C.
Spectrum distribution can also provide information on the
change of FMs [39]. The initial distribution of the spectrum peaks
and that after various stress tests are analyzed is shown in
Fig. 13. The spectra are obtained at the beginning and after loading
the following stresses: 45 °C, 65 °C, 85 °C, 110 °C, 120 °C, 125 °C,
and 130 °C. The spectra of all the tested units are compared in
HADT. In this study, only the spectrum after 65 °C is plotted
because the spectra within 65 °C are nearly the same. The evident
safe operating TSL for Lamp B #1 is approximately 110 °C for both
blue and yellow emission peaks. A significant increase in the yel-
low emission peak is evident in Lamp B #1. A sudden change in
the materials or structures occurs after the change in chip emis-
sion. The safe operating TSL for Lamps A #1 and #2 is approxi-
mately 120 °C, as clearly indicated by their yellow emission
peaks. The change in chip emission mechanisms is the root cause
of the sudden change in optical performance, and subsequent
changes resulting from the change in materials or structures of
the LED package or light source subsystem further worsen the opti-
cal performance.
Moreover, the experiments in this study indicate that the TSLs
vary across vendors and depend on product materials and design.
The sensitivity levels of the parameters to lamp thermal perfor-
mance also vary across different types of lamps. Thus, a TSL should
be determined by comprehensively assessing the thermal and opti-
cal parameters through an appropriate testing scheme, such as
 M. Cai et al. / Applied Thermal Engineering 102 (2016) 1451–1461 1459

Fig. 13. Spectrum peak distribution after various stress tests in HADT.

HADT. Before designing an accelerated reliability test, the TSL asso-
ciated with the given LED lamps should be determined or
investigated.
The results of the investigation above show that Tpj is a good
and sensitive parameter to represent the thermal performances
of LED modules at the lamp level, and the proposed HADT is an effi-
cient way to obtain the TSL for LED products. Overall, the common
operating upper TSL for LED light engines in HADT is approximately
110 °C for the LED lamps tested in this study. When the subsystem
isolation method is considered in an accelerated aging test, the
thermal stress levels to be implemented should be below the oper-
ating upper TSL for the light engines of LED lamps to maintain the
same or similar decay mechanisms.
3.2. Experimental application and verification of the TSL for Lamp B
In this study, guided by the operating upper TSL for the light
engine subsystem, SSADT is conducted on Lamp B using reasonable
thermal stress levels. The highest thermal stress (95 °C) is selected
in SSADT because of the possible existence of an operating redun-
dancy of 10–15 °C in the operating upper limit for Lamp B and a
limitation in the humidity-loading capacity of a general environ-
mental chamber. Furthermore, 65 °C and 85 °C are selected for
the two other step stress levels. The humidity at all the stress levels
is 85% RH. The test duration of each stress phase can be achieved
using the accelerated factor with the same degradation quantity
at each stress level [35]. In this test, the phase durations are 538,
384, and 336 h at temperature levels of 65 °C, 85 °C, and 95 °C,
respectively. A previous work [11] detailed the SSADT procedure
for LED lamps. As shown in Fig. 14, the light source subsystems
exhibit a steady and evident degradation process during SSADT,
implying that the accelerated testing can effectively degrade the
light source subsystem.
The decay mechanism at each stress level is analyzed by vali-
dating the parameter a, which is associated with the decay mech-
anism. As shown in Fig. 15, the parameters ai (a1 = 0.552,
a2 = 0.544, and a3 = 0.519) almost remain unchanged at all three
stress levels (aD 6 0.1), indicating that the samples undergo the
same or similar degradation mechanisms at all stress levels. Thus,
the observed decay data from SSADT are applicable to extrapolate

Fig. 14. Lumen maintenance of the light engine subsystem (inset: test setup of SSADT for disassembled LED lamps).
1460 M. Cai et al. / Applied Thermal Engineering 102 (2016) 1451–1461
Fig. 15. Decay mechanism parameters (ai) at three stress levels [11].
the lifetime of the light source subsystem. The procedure for
extrapolating the lifetimes of LED lamps with the SSADT data has
been reported in a previous work [11]. The preliminary analysis
shows that the FMs for the subsequent degradation of the optical
output are similar to those observed in previous research
[23,24,36]. The analysis shows that the moist condition imple-
mented in SSADT has an important role in the aging process of
the light source. Such condition is a key factor that causes the
chemical degradation at the system level. Further study should
be conducted to elucidate the degradation kinetics of the LED
packages.
After verifying the uniform decay mechanisms at different
stress levels, the stress limit can also be detected by applying
SSADT [35]. The proposed HADT and SSADT have two major differ-
ences in detecting the TSL, namely, experimental data size from the
testing and the statistical analysis. First, the HADT procedure only
requires two data points from the initial and terminal measure-
ments at each step-loaded stress. By contrast, the SSADT procedure
requires enough data points to achieve further reliability assess-
ment and then receive the expected TSL, which requires adequate
test duration at each step stress in SSADT. The duration of HADT
at each step stress is only sufficient to ensure the complete stabi-
lization and saturation of all the components of the lamp system.
In this work, 12 h duration for each step-loaded stress is utilized
for the proposed HADT. Second, the TSL in the proposed HADT
can be obtained quickly without a complex data statistical analysis
that is an imperative step in SSADT procedure. The duration of the
proposed HADT for detecting the TSL is clearly shorter than that of
SSADT.
4. Conclusion
In this work, HADT based on the subsystem isolation method for
LED lamps is proposed. The testing scheme determines the desired
TSL in 85% RH humidity for the LED light engine subsystem. In
HADT, a monitoring procedure for the situ pseudo-junction tem-
perature (Tpj) of LED lamps and a step-fitting analysis procedure
for the monitored parameters are suggested to detect the abnormal
thermal stress level. Furthermore, the obtained TSL is applied to
SSADT to verify the uniform decay mechanisms at various stress
levels.
The results show that humidity stress has a significant influence
on accelerating the degradation of LED lamps; thus, introducing
humidity to the HADT and SSADT procedures is reasonable. The
optical measurements of the benchmark samples without any
stress loaded are employed to guarantee the stability of the room
ambience and test setup (average error 6 3.87%). Even when other
possible errors are considered, the confidence level of all experi-
mentally derived data in this study is approximately 90%. The
results show that Tpj is a good and sensitive parameter to represent
the thermal performance of LED modules at the lamp level. The
step-fitting analysis of the monitored parameters evidently and
effectively identifies abnormal thermal stress levels. Consequently,
determining the TSL for LED light engines can be easily observed
through the in situ Tpj and optical parameters monitored in HADT.
Overall, the common operating upper TSL for LED light engines is
approximately 110 °C for the LED lamps tested in this study.
The application study shows that the SSADT procedure rapidly
and effectively accelerates the decay process of LED lamps. The
parameters ai (a1 = 0.552, a2 = 0.544, and a3 = 0.519) remain
almost unchanged (aD 6 0.1) at all three reasonable stresses of
65 °C, 85 °C, and 95 °C, which are selected based on the obtained
TSL. These results prove that the tested samples undergo uniform
decay mechanisms and the selected TSL is reasonable.
Moreover, the TSLs vary across different lamp vendors. The sen-
sitivity levels of the parameters to lamp thermal performance also
vary across different types of lamps. Before designing an acceler-
ated reliability testing, the operating thermal stress upper limits
for the studied LED lamps should be determined by comprehen-
sively assessing as many parameters as possible through an appro-
priate testing scheme, such as the proposed HADT. The duration of
HADT for detecting the TSL is shorter than that of SSADT. Thus, the
proposed HADT method can be useful for the qualification specifi-
cation of LED lamps in the future.
Acknowledgements
The work is co-supported by the National Natural Science Foun-
dation of China (No. 51366003), the Guangxi Key Laboratory of
Manufacturing System and Advanced Manufacturing Technology
(No. 14-045-15-002Z), the Program of Guangxi Science Research
and Technology Development (No. 14124005-1-7), the Innovation
Project of Guangxi Graduate Education (No. YCBZ2015037), and
the Project of Promoting the Foundational Skills of Guangxi Young
and Middle-aged Teachers in 2016.
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