Unit 3 – Reliability concepts,
TPM, Terotechnology, BPR
Reliability
• Generally defined as the ability of a product to
perform as expected over time.
• Formally defined as the probability that a product,
piece of equipment, or system performs its intended
function for a stated period of time under specified
operating conditions.
“Freedom from failure overtime.”
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Types of Failures
• Functional failure – failure that occurs at the
start of product life due to manufacturing or
material detects
• Reliability failure – failure after some period
of use
Types of Reliability
• Inherent reliability – predicted by product
design
• Achieved reliability – observed during use
Reliability Measurement
• Failure rate () – number of failures per unit time
• Alternative measures
• Mean time to failure-Mean time to failure (MTTF) is a maintenance metric that
measures the average amount of time a non-repairable asset operates before it fails.
Because MTTF is relevant only for assets and equipment that cannot or should not be
repaired, MTTF can also be thought of as the average lifespan of an asset.
• Mean time between failures-Mean time between failures (MTBF) is the average
time between system breakdowns. Mean time between failures is a crucial maintenance
metric to measure performance, safety, and equipment design, especially for critical or
complex assets like generators or airplanes.
• Causes for increase in failure rate /wear out failures are:
Owing to oxidation, friction wear, shrinkage, corrosion, atomic
migration, breakdown of insulation, fatigue, etc.
Populations of substandard items owing to microscopic flaws
where the components fail when random fluctuations (transients) of
stress go beyond the item strength.
Usually related to quality assurance and manufacture, e.g.
joints, connections, welds, cracks, wrap, impurities, dirt, insulation
or coating flaws, incorrect positioning or adjustment.
CAUSES OF FAILURES AND UNRELIABILITY
The causes for failures of component and equipment's in a system can be many. Some
are known and others are unknown due to the complexity of the system and its
environment. A few of them are listed below:
• 1. Poor component design or system design
• 2. Wrong method of production-technique
• 3. Lack of complete knowledge and skill
• 4. High complexity of equipment
• 5. Very poor maintenance policies,
• 6. Organizational inflexibility and complexity
• 7. Human errors
• 8. Failure resulting from environmental factors ,software elements and human factors
• 9. Common mode failure in a redundant system where all replicated units fail by a
common factor.
Failure Rate Curve
“Infant mortality
period”
Reliability Function
The reliability function of the device, RX (t), is simply the probability that the device
is still functioning at time t
• Probability density function of
failures f(t) = e-t for t > 0
• Probability of failure from (0, T)
F(t) = 1 – e-T
• Reliability function
R(T) = 1 – F(T) = e-T
Series Systems
In a series system where components are connected serially, the failure
of one of its components leads to system failure.
1 2 n
RS = R1 R2 ... Rn
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Parallel Systems
Parallel system is a system in which components are connected in parallel and the system
does not fail, even one component is in good working condition i.e the system fails only
when all components have failed.
RS = 1 - (1 - R1) (1 - R2)... (1 - Rn)
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Reliability Engineering
• Standardization
• Redundancy
• Physics of failure
• Reliability testing
• Burn-in
• Failure mode and effects analysis
• Fault tree analysis
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Reliability Management
• Define customer performance requirements
• Determine important economic factors and
relationship with reliability requirements
• Define the environment and conditions of
product use
• Select components, designs, and vendors that
meet reliability and cost criteria
• Determine reliability requirements for machines
and equipment
• Analyze field reliability for improvement
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Availability
• Operational availability
MTBM = mean time between
MTBF maintenance
AO MTD = mean down time
MTBM MDT MTBF = mean time between
• Inherent availability failures
MTTR = mean time to repair
MTBF
AO
MTBF MTTR
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