MAINTENANCE & RELIABILITY

ENGINEERING
CGE676
Lecture 3: Reliability Evaluation Tools
-Introduction-
-Methods and Techniques Involved-
-FMEA/FMECA-

Faculty of Chemical Engineering

Introduction
Reliability evaluation

• Critical element of reliability engineering and is concerned with ensuring

the reliability of engineering products
• Usually begins in the conceptual design phase of products with specified
reliability

Methods and techniques

• Network reduction method

• Decomposition method
• Delta-star method
• Supplementary variables method
• FMEA/FMECA
Faculty of Chemical Engineering
Methods & techniques

• Simple and useful method for

determining the reliability of systems
consisting of independent series and
parallel subsystems.
Network
• Sequentially reduces the series and
reduction parallel configurations to equivalent
method units until the whole system becomes a
single hypothetical unit.
• Advantage: it is easy to understand and
use.

Faculty of Chemical Engineering

 Network reduction method

A network made up of four independents representing a system is shown in Figure above..

Each block in the figure denotes a unit. The reliability of Ri of unit I ; for I = 1, 2, 3, 4, is
given. Calculate the network reliability by using the network reduction method.
Network reduction method
Network reduction method
Network reduction method
Methods & techniques

• useful method used to evaluate

reliability of complex systems;
decomposes a complex system into
Decomposition simpler subsystems by applying the
method conditional probability theory.
• system reliability is obtained by
combining the reliability measures
of subsystems.

Faculty of Chemical Engineering

Methods & techniques

• a very practical and powerful method to

determine the reliability of bridge networks
Delta-star
• This approach transforms a bridge network
method to its equivalent network composed of
series and parallel configurations.

Faculty of Chemical Engineering

Delta-Wye Transformation

10
 Delta-Wye Transformation

Each resistance in the network Y is the the product of two adjacent branches of the
resistance in the delta network, divided by the sum of the three resistance in delta

𝑅1 𝑅2
𝑅𝑎 =
𝑅1 + 𝑅2 + 𝑅3

𝑅2 𝑅3
𝑅𝑏 =
𝑅1 + 𝑅2 + 𝑅3

𝑅1 𝑅3
𝑅𝑐 =
𝑅1 + 𝑅2 + 𝑅3
11
 Wye-Delta Transformation

Each resistance in delta network is the product of the total resistance of all the Y
taken twice at a time, divided by the resistance against the network Y

𝑅𝑎 𝑅𝑏 + 𝑅𝑎 𝑅𝑐 + 𝑅𝑏 𝑅𝑐
𝑅1 =
𝑅𝑏

𝑅𝑎 𝑅𝑏 + 𝑅𝑎 𝑅𝑐 + 𝑅𝑏 𝑅𝑐
𝑅2 =
𝑅𝑐

𝑅𝑎 𝑅𝑏 + 𝑅𝑎 𝑅𝑐 + 𝑅𝑏 𝑅𝑐
𝑅3 =
𝑅𝑎

12
Methods & techniques

• Named after a Russian mathematician

Andrei Andreyevich Markov (1856–1922).
Markov • One of the most widely used reliability
analysis methods.
method • Mainly used to analyze repairable and
nonrepairable systems with constant
failure/repair rates.

Faculty of Chemical Engineering

Faculty of Chemical Engineering
Faculty of Chemical Engineering
Methods & techniques

Supplementary • Used to model systems with constant

variables failure rates and nonexponential repair
method times

Faculty of Chemical Engineering

Faculty of Chemical Engineering
Faculty of Chemical Engineering
Methods & techniques
Failure Mode & Effect Analysis (FMEA)

• Widely used to analyze engineering systems with respect to

reliability
• May be simply described as an approach for performing analysis of
each system failure mode to examine their effects on the total
system
• Can be applied to a physical entity or to a functional entity.
• For example, it can be applied to a particular equipment ,or to a
process function.

Faculty of Chemical Engineering

Methods & techniques
Failure Mode & Effect Analysis (FMEA)

• A FMEA is a systemized group of activities intended to:

• recognize and evaluate the potential failure of a product/process and
its effect,
• identify actions which could eliminate or reduce the chance of a
potential failure occurring, and
• document the process.

Faculty of Chemical Engineering

Methods & techniques
Failure Mode & Effect Analysis (FMEA)
• Focus on function - By identifying what functions need to be
achieved, we can then identify situations when the
equipment does not perform the required function, and
focus attention on the related causes and effects.
• Example: What is the function of the pump for steady state
operation? What is the possible functional failure?

Faculty of Chemical Engineering

Methods & techniques
Failure Mode & Effect Analysis (FMEA)
• Thus:
• “FMEA is a non-quantitative analysis that aims to identify
the nature of the failures that can occur in a system,
machine, or piece of equipment by examining the sub-
systems or components in turn, considering for each the
full range of possible failure types and the effect on the
system of each type of failure”.

• FMECA is an extension of FMEA that assigns a ranking to

both the severity of the possible effects and their likelihood,
enabling the risks to be ranked

Faculty of Chemical Engineering

Methods & techniques

The purpose of FMEA The objective of FMEA

• Identify failures having
unwanted effects on system
operation
• Satisfy contractual
requirements of a
customer
• Allow improvements of
system reliability
• Allow improvements of
system maintainability
Faculty of Chemical Engineering
• Identification/evaluation of all
unwanted effects within system
boundary and what the failure
modes will cause
• Determination of criticality/priority
for addressing/mitigating each
failure mode
• Classification of the failure modes
regarding detection, diagnostics,
testability, , repair, maintenance,
logistics
• Identification of functional failures
and estimation of measures of the
severity and probability
• Development of design
improvement plan for mitigating
failure modes
• Support the development of
maintenance plan to reduce the
likelihood of failure
Methods & techniques

Faculty of Chemical Engineering

Methods & techniques

Faculty of Chemical Engineering

Methods & techniques

Faculty of Chemical Engineering

Methods & techniques

Faculty of Chemical Engineering

Methods & techniques

Faculty of Chemical Engineering

Methods & techniques

Faculty of Chemical Engineering

Methods & techniques
Failure Mode & Effect Analysis (FMEA)

• Steps:
• Define system boundaries and associated requirements in
detail.
• List all system parts and components and subsystems.
• List all possible failure modes and describe and identify the
component or part under consideration.
• Assign appropriate failure rate or probability to each
component or part failure mode.
• List effects of each failure mode on subsystems and the plant.
• Enter appropriate remarks for each failure mode.
• Review each critical failure mode and take appropriate action.

Faculty of Chemical Engineering

Methods & techniques

• It is important to have an
agreed taxonomy when
breaking systems down into
sub-systems and
components.
• This may be agreed with by
the team for a specific FMEA, or
they may choose to use a
taxonomy described in a
Standard

Faculty of Chemical Engineering

Methods & techniques
Failure Mode & Effect Analysis (FMEA)
• Failure mode: One of the possible states of a failed item, for a
given function
• Example: Failure during operation; Failure to operate at a
prescribed time; Failure to cease operation at a prescribed
time; Premature operation.
• Failure mode determination:
• The use of the system
• The particular system element involved
• The mode of operation
• The operational specification
• The time constraints
• The environmental stresses
• The operational stresses
Faculty of Chemical Engineering
Methods & techniques
Failure Mode & Effect Analysis (FMEA)
• Failure cause:
• A failure mode can have more than one cause
• Not always necessary to identify/describe – depending on the
failure effects and severity
• May be determined by analysing field failures or test units.
When design is new, expert opinion may be used

Faculty of Chemical Engineering

Methods & techniques
Failure Mode & Effect Analysis (FMEA)

• Failure effects:
• Defined as the consequence of a failure mode in terms of the
operation, function or status of a system
• May be caused by one or more failure modes of one or more
items
• Consequences of each failure mode should be identified,
evaluated and recorded
• Consider maintenance activities and system objectives
• Evaluate also the effect on higher level at each level

Faculty of Chemical Engineering

Methods & techniques
Failure Mode & Effect Analysis (FMEA)
• Failure detections:
• For each failure mode, one must determine the way the
failure is detected and the means by which the
user/maintainer is made aware of the failure
• It may be implemented by
• An automatic feature of the design (built-in test)
• Special checkout procedure before operating the system
• Inspection during maintenance activities
• At start up of the system or continuously during operation or at
prescribed intervals
• Failure detection and its annunciation must prevent hazardous
operating conditions

Faculty of Chemical Engineering

Methods & techniques
Failure Mode & Effect Analysis (FMEA)
• Failure detections:
• Examples: How are the failure modes on your car detected?

Faculty of Chemical Engineering

Methods & techniques
Failure Mode & Effect Analysis (FMEA)
• Severity:
• Severity is an assessment of the significance of the failure
mode’s effect on item operation
• The classification is dependent on the application
• To do the assessment, consider
• Nature of the system related to the failure effect on users
or environment
• The functional performance of the system
• Contractual requirements
• Government or industry safety requirements
• Requirements implied by warranty

Faculty of Chemical Engineering

Methods & techniques

Failure Mode & Effect Analysis (FMEA)

• Occurrence:
• the likelihood that a specific cause/mechanism will occur
• usually based on ranking charts and is a relative rating within
the scope of the FMEA

Faculty of Chemical Engineering

Methods & techniques
Failure Mode & Effect Analysis (FMEA)

• Risk Priroty Number (RPN):

• provides a priority of the potential failure modes
• RPN = (S x O x D)
• Purpose : to identify which potential failure modes are most
likely to cause problems
• higher risk priority numbers indicate more serious
consequences

Faculty of Chemical Engineering

Methods & techniques

Failure Mode & Effect Analysis (FMEA)

Faculty of Chemical Engineering

Methods & techniques

Faculty of Chemical Engineering

Methods & techniques

Faculty of Chemical Engineering

Methods & techniques

Faculty of Chemical Engineering

Methods & techniques
E.g

Faculty of Chemical Engineering

Methods & techniques
E.g

Faculty of Chemical Engineering

FMEA Report

Faculty of Chemical Engineering

Faculty of Chemical Engineering
Examples
FMEA/FMECA
• What are the functional failures for the Heat Exchanger?
• “To maintain the temperature of the process fluid between
38°C and 42°C”
• Functional Failures would be:
• Unable to control the temperature at all
• Unable to heat the process fluid above 38°C
• Unable to cool the process fluid below 42°C

Faculty of Chemical Engineering

Examples

Faculty of Chemical Engineering

Applications
FMEA/FMECA

• Maintenance strategy development

• New designs, new technology, or new process
• Modifications to existing design or process
• Use of existing design or process in a new environment,
location or application
• Identifying failure codes

Faculty of Chemical Engineering

Methods & techniques
Failure Mode & Effect Analysis (FMEA)
Benefits
 Identifies systematically the cause and
effect relationships.
 Gives an initial indication of those
failure modes that are likely to be critical,
especially single failures that may
propagate
 Identifies outcomes arising from special
causes or initiating events that are believe
to be important
 Provides a framework for identification
of measures to mitigate risk
 Useful in preliminary analysis of new or
untried systems and processes.
Faculty of Chemical Engineering
Drawbacks
 The ratings and RPN number are
subjective
 Issue on the categorisation into failure
mode and cause
 The output data can be large even for
relatively simple systems.
 Legal ramifications: if you have
identified a failure mode but you have not
eliminated it, are you culpable of
negligence?
 FMEA often assumes that the part is ‘in
tolerance’. However in real life, out of
spec parts are common.
Next Lecture……

• Maintenance Engineering

Faculty of Chemical Engineering