RELIABILITY AND TPM/

(APS/CIM-1124)
M.TECH/COMPUTER INTEGRATED MANUFACTURING/I I SEM
SAMARAT ASHOK TECHNOLOGICAL INSTITUTE, VIDISHA (M.P)
Session 2014-15
 UNIT 1: INTRODUCTION
We often hear and make remarks to the effect that a particular brand of electric mixer, or motor,
or refrigerator, or automobile is reliable or unreliable. In these statements, the words reliable and
unreliable are used synonymously with the words dependable and undependable,
respectively. When we say that an air conditioner manufactured by a particular firm is reliable,
we mean that its performance is trouble free, but we do not completely rule out the possibility of
failure.
The degree of certainty or uncertainty is related to the amount of information available about that
particular equipment; in general, about its design characteristics, the quality of the components
used in it, its performance, and so on. The combined knowledge of these factors gives us a
descriptive picture, which is purely qualitative, of the word reliability. Such a qualitative
description is unsatisfactory for the following reasons:
1. It does not help us to calculate reliability.
2. It does not permit comparison of the reliability of different components and systems.
3. It does not indicate the means of improving the reliability of a component or system.
4. It does not help us to stipulate the reliability requirement for an equipment at the designing
stage.
The quantitative study of uncertainty, therefore, forms the starting point for a quantitative
analysis of reliability. The theory which deals with the study of uncertainty is the probability
theory.
The probability of an event taking place is obviously a positive quantity. It cannot be greater than
one because its value is expressed as a fraction. Thus when probability is equal to zero, the event
is impossible, and when probability is equal to one, the event is certain.
Reliability: Reliability is the probability that a system will perform a required function when
operating under stable conditions for a stated period of time.
Following three observations pertain to the above definition;
Reliability is a condition related to chance or probability.
Reliability depends upon the operating conditions.
Reliability depends upon the interval for which the system operates.
Mean Time between Failure (MTBF): In the stated period in the operation of a system, the
mean value for the length of time between two consecutive failures, computed as the ratio of
total cumulative observed time to the total number of failures.
Suppose a system is intermittently down due to failure as shown in fig. 1.1.

Fig. 1.1: System in operation/breakdown

Total time of observation =
Where ti is the time of trouble free operation during (i 1) and (i + 1) st failures (i.e., system
down time):
Total number of failures = K (say)

Thus, MTBF =
Now, number of failures per unit time is the failure rate (),
Hence, Failure rate, = =

or, MTBF =

Relationship between Reliability, Failure Rate and MTBF:

Let, f (t) = Failure probability density function during time t
(t) = Failure rate during time t
= MTBF
R (t) = Reliability function (probability of survival to time t)
Let a system is observed for time T. During this period,
for small time t to (t+dt), the probability that the system
will fail (given that it has survived till time t) is;
P (t+dt > t) = (t) dt
Probability of failure in interval t to t+dt is;
= f (t) dt
Using law of conditional probability;
( )
()
( )
Thus,
( )
() eq. (1.1)
( )
Since cumulative probability of failure is [1 R (t)], we have,
() () ( )
( ) ( )
Differentiation of above expression, both sides give;
( ) ( )
( )
Putting this value in equation 1.1;
() ( )
( ) ( )
( ) ( )
( )
Integrating both sides;
( )
( ) ( )
( )
( ) ( ) ( )
Assuming failure rate to be constant, i.e., (t) = .
( )
t = ( )
Thus,
( )
The above equation is known as Reliability Function.
Suppose there are N components out of which K are failed till time t. Hence, surviving
component in time t: Ns (t) is (N K).
When this time of observation is infinite:
( )
( )
 Fig. 1.3: Reliability and unreliability curves Fig. 1.4: Failure and survival curves
Bath Tub Curve: Bath tub curve describes the variation of failure rate of components during
their life time. It is also called as: life characteristic curve, or lambda characteristic curve.

Fig. 1.5: Bath tub curve

S.No. Phase Other names Causes
Normally related to manufacturing defects and quality
assurance problems. Incorrect assembly, imperfect
Infant mortality, alignment, defects in weld or joint or connection or
Decreasing
1 Burn-in, Early wiring, dirt, impurities, crack, coating may be reason.
failure rate
failure This may be due to some substandard items containing
microscopic flaws that have been passed through the
final inspection of the product.
Random failures, Generally this is due to repeated use of the item.
Constant Useful life, Sometimes, it is due to overloading or overstress during
2
failure rate Stress-related use. It may be due to random causes, which may be
failures stochastic. However, the failure rate is almost constant
Increasing Generally, to over-use corrosion, wear, breakdown of
3 Wear-out failure
failure rate insulation, shrinkages, fatigues, creep etc.
Table 1.1: Phases in Bath-tub curve
The Expected Life of a System: Let t is the random variable for the time a failure takes
place. This has a continuous density function. The expected life of the system is;
( ) ( )
Since cumulative failure functions;
( ) ( )
Differentiating both sides;
( ) ( )
or,
( ) [ ( )] ( )
Thus,
( ) [ ( )] [ ( )]
Integrating R.H.S in parts;
( ) {[ ( )] ( ) }
When t ; R (t) = 0; due to finite life of the system:
[ ( )]
Thus, Expected life of a system;
( ) ( )
This is also called as mean life of the system.
Failure Rate: It is the probability that a failure per unit time occurs in the interval given that a
failure has not occurred prior to the beginning of this interval.
Hazard Function: It is the limiting value of failure rate as the interval approaches zero. Hazard
rate is the ratio of failure rate and reliability.
Mean Time to Failure: Mean time to failure (MTTF) is;

( ) ( ) [ { }]

Thus, MTTF is equal to MTBF. It is generally used for non-repairable items, like bulb, fuse, etc.
Maintainability: The probability that a failed item will be restored to operational effectiveness
within a given period of time, when the repair-action is performed in accordance with the
prescribed procedure.
or
Maintainability is the probability that a unit or system will be restored to specified conditions
within a given period when maintenance action is taken in accordance with prescribed
procedures and resources. It is a characteristic of the design and installation of the unit or system.
Availability: Consider a system or an equipment for which a demand can arise during a given
mission period. This demand can come at any random moment of time, as in the case of an anti-
aircraft missile system. The demand can also be continuous throughout the mission period as in
the case of a ground radar system or any other surveillance facility. For the given system or an
independent subsystem thereof, a profile can be drawn depicting its availability during the
mission period.
Fig. 1.6 (a) shows the number of missiles available during a mission period for a hypothetical
missile system. It is assumed that the system is fully available if the number of missiles at any
time is not less than 15. From this consideration, the system shown in fig. 1.6 (a) is not fully
available continuously throughout the mission period. Fig. 1.6 (b) shows the system availability
and the system downtime profiles. The system down time is the total time for which a system is
down for active maintenance.

Fig. 1.6
It is possible to define three types of availability depending on the time elements we take into
consideration. These are;
Inherent Availability: This is the probability that a system or equipment shall operate
satisfactorily when used under stated conditions in an ideal support environment, without
consideration for any scheduled or preventive maintenance at any given time. It excludes
ready time, preventive maintenance downtime, supply downtime and administrative
downtime. Inherent availability may be expressed as;

By ideal support environment, we mean the ready availability of tools, parts, manpower,
manuals, etc.
Achieved Availability: We have observed earlier that the system may become unavailable
because of a breakdown or malfunction, or due to periodic preventive maintenance. If this
preventive maintenance is also taken into account, we get the achieved availability, which is
defined to be the probability that a system or equipment shall operate satisfactorily when
used under stated condition in an ideal support environment at any given time. It may be
expressed as;

Where, M is the mean active maintenance downtime resulting from both preventive and
corrective maintenance.
Operational Availability: In any real operation, we cannot reduce administrative downtime
and supply downtime to zero. If these time elements are taken into account, we obtain the
operational availability of the system. This is defined to be the probability that a system or
equipment shall operate satisfactorily when used under stated conditions and in an actual
supply environment at any given time. It may be expressed as;

All three availability factors are probabilities like maintainability and reliability. In general, the
availability of a system is a complex function of reliability, maintainability and supply
effectiveness. This can be expressed as;
As = f (Rs, Ms, Ss),
Where, As = system availability, Rs = system reliability, Ms = system maintainability and Ss =
supply effectiveness.
UNIT 2: FAILURE DATA ANALYSIS