Reliability

THE MANAGEMENT AND CONTROL OF QUALITY, 5e, © 2002 South-Western/Thomson Learning TM 1

 Definition of
Reliability

“Probability that a system or product

will perform in a satisfactory manner
for a given period of time when used
under specified operating condition”

THE MANAGEMENT AND CONTROL OF QUALITY, 5e, © 2002 South-Western/Thomson Learning TM

 Reliability - 4 main
elements
1. probability – numerical
representation - number of times
that an event occurs (success)
divided by total number trials
2. Satisfactory performance – criteria
established which describe what is
considered to be satisfactory system
operation

THE MANAGEMENT AND CONTROL OF QUALITY, 5e, © 2002 South-Western/Thomson Learning TM

 3. Specifed time – measure against which
degree of system performance can be
related - used to predict probability of
an item surviving without failure for a
designated period of time
4. Specified operating conditions expect a
system to function - environmental
factors, humidity, vibration, shock,
temperature cycle, operational profile,
etc.
THE MANAGEMENT AND CONTROL OF QUALITY, 5e, © 2002 South-Western/Thomson Learning TM
 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

THE MANAGEMENT AND CONTROL OF QUALITY, 5e, © 2002 South-Western/Thomson Learning TM 5

 Maintainability

 The probability that a system or

product can be retained in, or
one that has failed can be
restored to, operating condition
in a specified amount of time.

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 Maintainability

 Pertains to the ease, accuracy,

safety and economy in the
performance of maintenance actions
 Ability of an item to be maintained
 Maintainability is a design
parameter, maintenance is a result
of design

THE MANAGEMENT AND CONTROL OF QUALITY, 5e, © 2002 South-Western/Thomson Learning TM

 Measures of
Maintainability
MTBM – mean time between maintenance,
include preventive and corrective
maintenance
MTBR – mean time between replacement,
generate spare part requirement
M - mean active maintenance time
M ct – mean corrective maintenance
time or mean time to repair
M pt – mean preventive maintenance
time

THE MANAGEMENT AND CONTROL OF QUALITY, 5e, © 2002 South-Western/Thomson Learning TM

  Frequency of maintenance for a
given time is highly dependent on
the reliability of that item
 Reliability frequency of
maintenance
 Unreliable system require extensive
maintenance

THE MANAGEMENT AND CONTROL OF QUALITY, 5e, © 2002 South-Western/Thomson Learning TM

 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

THE MANAGEMENT AND CONTROL OF QUALITY, 5e, © 2002 South-Western/Thomson Learning TM 10

 Types of Reliability

 Inherent reliability – predicted

by product design
 Achieved reliability – observed
during use

THE MANAGEMENT AND CONTROL OF QUALITY, 5e, © 2002 South-Western/Thomson Learning TM 11

 Reliability Measurement

 Failure rate () – number of

failures per unit time
 Alternative measures
 Mean time to failure
 Mean time between failures

THE MANAGEMENT AND CONTROL OF QUALITY, 5e, © 2002 South-Western/Thomson Learning TM 12

 Cumulative Failure Rate
Curve

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 Failure Rate Curve

“Infant
mortality
period”

THE MANAGEMENT AND CONTROL OF QUALITY, 5e, © 2002 South-Western/Thomson Learning TM 14

 Average Failure Rate

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 Reliability function
[R(t)]
 R(t) = 1 – F(t)
 F(t) = probability of a system will fail
by time (t) = failure distribution
function
Eg. If probability of failure F(t) is
20%, then reliability at time t is
R(t) = 1 – 0.20 = 0.80 or 80%

THE MANAGEMENT AND CONTROL OF QUALITY, 5e, © 2002 South-Western/Thomson Learning TM

 Reliability at time (t)

 R(t) = e-t/
 e = 2.7183
  = MTBF
 = failure rate
1

 So,
R(t) = e-t

THE MANAGEMENT AND CONTROL OF QUALITY, 5e, © 2002 South-Western/Thomson Learning TM

 Failure Rate ()
 Rate at which failure occur in a
specified time interval
= number of failures
total operating hours

 Can be expected in terms of failures

per hour, % of failure per 1,000 hours
or failures per million hours

THE MANAGEMENT AND CONTROL OF QUALITY, 5e, © 2002 South-Western/Thomson Learning TM

 Example 1

 10 components were tested. The

components (not repairable) failed
as follows:
 Component 1 failed after 75 ours
 Component 2 failed after 125 hours
 Component 3 failed after 130 hours
 Component 4 failed after 325 hours
 Component 5 failed after 525 hours

THE MANAGEMENT AND CONTROL OF QUALITY, 5e, © 2002 South-Western/Thomson Learning TM

 Determine the MTBF

Solution:
Five failures, operating time = 3805
hours

525
325
130
125 5 x 525
75

THE MANAGEMENT AND CONTROL OF QUALITY, 5e, © 2002 South-Western/Thomson Learning TM

 Solution

 = 5 / 3805 = 0.001314

THE MANAGEMENT AND CONTROL OF QUALITY, 5e, © 2002 South-Western/Thomson Learning TM

 Example 2
The chart below shows operating time and breakdown time
of a machine.
20.2 2.5 6.1 7.1 24.4 4.2 35.3 1.8 46.7

Operating time Down time

a) Determine the MTBF.

Solution:

Total operating time = 20.2 + 6.1 + 24.4 + 4.2 + 35.3 + 46.7

= 136.9 hours
THE MANAGEMENT AND CONTROL OF QUALITY, 5e, © 2002 South-Western/Thomson Learning TM
 Solution

 = 4 / 136.9 = 0.02922
Therefore;
 = MTBF = 1/  = 34.22 hours

b) What is the system reliability for a mission time of 20

hours?
R = e-t t = 20 hours
R= e-(0.02922)(20)

R = 55.74%

THE MANAGEMENT AND CONTROL OF QUALITY, 5e, © 2002 South-Western/Thomson Learning TM

 Series Systems

1 2 n

RS = R1 R2 ... Rn

THE MANAGEMENT AND CONTROL OF QUALITY, 5e, © 2002 South-Western/Thomson Learning TM 24

 Series Network

 Most commonly used and the

simplest to analyze

Input A B C Output

All components must operate if the system is to

function properly.
R = RA x RB x RC

THE MANAGEMENT AND CONTROL OF QUALITY, 5e, © 2002 South-Western/Thomson Learning TM

 Example
 Systems expected to operate for 1000
hours. It consists of 4 subsystems in series,
MTBFA = 6000 hours, MTBFB = 4500 hours,
MTBFC = 10,500 hours, MTBFD = 3200
hours. Determine overall reliability.
 A = 1 /MTBFA = 1/6000 = 0.000167
 B = 1/MTBFB = 1/4500 = 0.000222
 C = 1/MTBFC = 1/10500 = 0.000095
 D = 1/MTBFD = 1/3200 = 0.000313
 Therefore; R = e-(0.000797)(1000) = 0.4507
THE MANAGEMENT AND CONTROL OF QUALITY, 5e, © 2002 South-Western/Thomson Learning TM
 Parallel Systems

RS = 1 - (1 - R1) (1 - R2)... (1 - Rn)

THE MANAGEMENT AND CONTROL OF QUALITY, 5e, © 2002 South-Western/Thomson Learning TM 27
 Series-Parallel Systems

C
RA RB RD
RC
A B D
C

RC
 Convert to equivalent series system
RA RB RD
A B C’ D
RC’ = 1 – (1-RC)(1-RC)
THE MANAGEMENT AND CONTROL OF QUALITY, 5e, © 2002 South-Western/Thomson Learning TM 28
 Reliability Engineering

 Standardization
 Redundancy
 Physics of failure
 Reliability testing
 Burn-in
 Failure mode and effects analysis
 Fault tree analysis

THE MANAGEMENT AND CONTROL OF QUALITY, 5e, © 2002 South-Western/Thomson Learning TM 29

30
31
 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

THE MANAGEMENT AND CONTROL OF QUALITY, 5e, © 2002 South-Western/Thomson Learning TM 32

 Configuration Management

1. Establish approved baseline

configurations (designs)
2. Maintain control over all changes in
the baseline programs (change
control)
3. Provide traceability of baselines and
changes (configuration accounting)

THE MANAGEMENT AND CONTROL OF QUALITY, 5e, © 2002 South-Western/Thomson Learning TM 33

 Maintainability

 Maintainability is the totality of

design factors that allows
maintenance to be accomplished
easily
 Preventive maintenance reduces
the risk of failure
 Corrective maintenance is the
response to failures
THE MANAGEMENT AND CONTROL OF QUALITY, 5e, © 2002 South-Western/Thomson Learning TM 34
 Design Issues

 Access of parts for repair

 Modular construction and
standardization
 Diagnostic repair procedures
and expert systems

THE MANAGEMENT AND CONTROL OF QUALITY, 5e, © 2002 South-Western/Thomson Learning TM 35

 Availability

 Operational availability

MTBF MTBM = mean time between

AO  maintenance
MTBM  MDT
 Inherent availability MTD = mean down time
MTBF = mean time between
MTBF failures
AO 
MTBF  MTTR MTTR = mean time to repair

THE MANAGEMENT AND CONTROL OF QUALITY, 5e, © 2002 South-Western/Thomson Learning TM 36