RMP.1:5.6 - Compare the Answers that Existing Reports Can Supply

Return to the seal-test question in §5.1. One stipulated report supports a temperature-acceleration relation for a named material in water. A later report concerns another fluid and reports a different dominant degradation mechanism. Both are relevant to the receiving question; their different conditions prevent a direct ranking by publication date or test duration.

The comparison retains the first report’s supported relation in water and the second report’s warning about mechanism change in the other fluid. It changes “Which report gives the best acceleration factor?” into “Does the proposed test preserve the field mechanism for our material and fluid?” If an applicable existing study answers that question, return its answer and stop. Otherwise the remaining mechanism question and the criticism it requires become inputs to the research-membership test. A new study is chosen only through the subsequent design decision.