Failure, Short Duration

(also malfunction), a temporary loss of the operability of a device or equipment. It is a special type of failure that occurs in complicated radio-electronic equipment, such as computers and automatic control devices.

The principal causes of short duration failures are imperfect soldering, poor contact in plug and socket connectors, internal defects in the elements of electronic equipment, and the action of external factors. The most effective ways of preventing short duration failures are the following: the improvement of fabrication and assembly processes for radio-electronic devices; the development of efficient designs for equipment and units with increased noise immunity; and the counteraction of short duration failures by special schemes and devices—for example, through the use of redundancy, the use of error-correcting codes, the optimization of working conditions, and preventive maintenance.