FMEA

ME410/411 Senior Design

Course Updates
Today - Introduction to FMEA
No class on Thursday - work on your
projects
Next Tuesday - Personal Development
Christmas Break
Class will resume on Thursday, January
24

ME410/411 Senior Design
What is FMEA?
Failure
Modes
Effects
Analysis
-See page 551 of your book

ME410/411 Senior Design
Reasons to do FMEA
Define and guide a logical design process
Identify, quantify, and reduce design risk
Provide a traceable document for design
and development
Justify design activities
Provide a means for continuous product
improvement

ME410/411 Senior Design
Scope of FMEA
The FMEA is a team function
All team members must participate
Multi-disciplinary expertise and input is beneficial
Input from all engineering fields is desirable
Representatives from all areas (not just technical
disciplines) are generally included as team
members
The DFMEA is not a one meeting activity
 The DFMEA will be refined and evolve with the product
 Numerous revisions are required to obtain the full
benefit of the DFMEA
The DFMEA should include all systems, sub-
systems, and components
ME410/411 Senior Designin the product design
FMEA Methodology
List items and functions
 Start with the system, then subsystems, and finally
components
 Document potential failure modes
How could the design potentially fail to meet the
design intent?
Note: this might be the cause of failure at a
higher level (i.e. component to subsystem) or
the effect of a failure at a lower level.
Consider all types of failure
Document the potential effects of failure - How
would the design potentially fail to meet the
design intent? ME410/411 Senior Design
FMEA Methodology
Rate the severity of the failure effect
Document potential causes and mechanisms of
failure Potential failure modes are the
consequences of the failure causes
A single failure mode may have multiple failure
mechanisms
Use group brainstorming sessions to identify
possible failure mechanisms
 Do not be afraid to identify as many potential causes as
you can
 This section of the DFMEA will help guide you in
necessary design changes
 The output of the DFMEA will indicate on which item to
ME410/411 Senior Design
focus design efforts
FMEA Methodology
Rate the occurrence
 Are any elements of the design related to a previous
device or design?
 How significant are the changes from a previous design?
List the design controls, which are intended to:
 Prevent the cause of the failure mode
 Detect the cause of the failure mode
 Detect the failure mode directly
Applicable design controls include:
 Predictive code analysis, simulation, and modeling ･
Tolerance stack-up studies ･ Prototype test results

ME410/411 Senior Design
FMEA Methodology
Repeat: undertake the next revision of
the FMEA
Your FMEA is an evolving document!
(as is a QFD)
Revise your FMEA frequently!
Diligence will eliminate design risk!
Include documentation of your
results!

ME410/411 Senior Design
Frequency Ranking

ME410/411 Senior Design
Severity Rankings

ME410/411 Senior Design
Classification of “Risk”

Possibility High Risk

Of
Occurrence
Moderate Risk

Severity of Outcome

ME410/411 Senior Design
FMEA (Failure Mode and Effects Analysis)

Method for analyzing the causes and effects

of failures.
Highlights designs and assemblies most likely
to cause failures.
Helps identify and prioritize corrective action
Indicates where the most improvement in
terms of severity, frequency, and detectability
can be made.
Widely used manufacturing technique (Mil
standards, SAE, ANSI Specs)
ME410/411 Senior Design
Course Schedule
Failure Modes and Effects Analysis
(FMEAplus): Software developed by Ford
Motor Company. An FMEA can be described
as a systemized group of activities intended
to: (a) recognize and evaluate the potential
failure of a product/process and its effects, (b)
identify actions which could eliminate or
reduce the chance of the potential failure
occurring, and (c) document the process. It is
complementary to the design process of
defining positively what a design must do to
satisfy the customer.
ME410/411 Senior Design
Course Schedule

ME410/411 Senior Design
Course Schedule

ME410/411 Senior Design
Course Schedule
No class on Tuesday Nov. 13
Thursday Nov. 15
More team Q&A:
Formula team
Ethanol team
LANL-controls team

ME410/411 Senior Design
Course Schedule
No class on Tuesday Nov. 13
Thursday Nov. 15
More team Q&A:
Formula team
Ethanol team
LANL-controls team

ME410/411 Senior Design
Steps in the Process
QFD’s
If you have not done one yet, you
should start one
If you did one for the proposal, you
should update it with new information
A QFD expands as you get new data
New customer requirements
New engr. Specs
New benchmarks

ME410/411 Senior Design