Burn-in is the process by which system components

The aim is to detect particular components that fail because of the initial rate of failure of the bathtub curve of reliability of the components. If the adjustment period is long enough (and perhaps artificially stressful), now the system can rely on most new free early failures after burn-in process is complete.

A precondition for the success of burn-in is a failure rate of the tub natural, that is, there are also failures, with a failure rate is reduced after this period. By insisting on all devices for some depletion in units of time, with the highest rates of default are the first and can be removed from the cohort. Devices that survive have a stress position further in the bathtub curve (with a failure rate be less than adequate).

Thus, by applying a burn on the first failures of the system in use can avoid spending (commitment) of reduced efficiency caused by the recording process.

When life is extended equal tension on the rising edge of the bathtub curve of failure rate as the effect of the burn is a reduction in product life. In a production maturity, it is unclear if a decrease in failure rates. To determine the distribution of down time to a very small percentage of production, destroy a large number of devices.

Whenever possible, it is best to eliminate the root causes of early failures to do a burn-in. For this reason, a process that uses the first burn-in can eliminate the various causes of failure are identified and eliminated.

For electronic components, burn-in is often performed at elevated temperature and stress can be high. This process can also be called thermal maturation. Components can be continuous or simply tested under test at the end of filming.

There is another use of the term by some audiophiles, who leave new audio equipment turned on for multiple days or weeks, to get the components to achieve optimal performance. However, many debates have arisen about the benefits of this practice.