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'''''Sherlock Automated Design Analysis™''''' is a software tool developed by DfR Solutions for analyzing, grading, and certifying the expected reliability of products at the [[printed circuit board|circuit card assembly]] level. The software is designed for use by a broad range of design and [[reliability engineering|reliability engineers]] and managers in the electronics industry. ItBecause of the modularity and broad use of electronics, Sherlock has applicationsapplicability across industries such as [[automotive industry|automotive]], [[alternative energy]], [[electronic component|components]], [[consumer electronics]], [[contract manufacturer|contract manufacturing]], data and [[telecommunication|telecommunications]], [[power electronics|industrial/power]], medical, military/[[avionics]]/[[space industry|space]], and portables.
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Based on the science of [[Physics of Failure]], Sherlock identifiespredicts electronicsfailure designmechanism-specific weaknessesfailure beforerates prototypesover aretime built.using a combination of finite element method and material properties to capture stress values and first order analytical equations to evaluate damage evolution.
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Sherlock performs several different types of reliability analysis and provides athe comprehensiveuseful (constant failure rate) and wear out (increasing failure rate) portions of the life curve for each mechanism-component combination. These individual life curves are then summed to provide a physics-based reliability curve for the overall product. Sherlock also provides design rule checks (DRC) for board-level design (schematic and layout) and an overall reliability score. The reliability scoring, which is provided for the overall products – as well as individual scores and commentary for each area of analysis.Theis analysisused takeswhen aphysics-based fewquantitative minutespredictions toare completenot andpossible. The analysis is delivered both in PDF and HTML format. Depending on the types of analysis run and the data entered to create the analysis, reports can run between 1020 andto over 100 pages in length.
