4S

Reliability

McGraw-Hill/Irwin Copyright 2010 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
 Learning Objectives
Define reliability
Perform reliability computations
Explain the purpose of redundancy in a
system

4S-2
 Reliability
Reliability: The ability of a product, part,
or system to perform its intended
function under a prescribed set of
conditions
Failure: Situation in which a product,
part, or system does not perform as
intended
Normal operating conditions: The set
of conditions under which an items
reliability is specified
4S-3
 Reliability Is a Probability
Probability that the product or system
will:
Function when activated
Function for a given length of time
Independent events
Events whose occurrence or
nonoccurrence do not influence each other
Redundancy
The use of backup components to increase
reliability

4S-4
 Rule 1

Lamp 1 Lamp 2

.90 .80 .90 x .80 = .72

4S-5
 Rule 2

.80 Lamp 2 (backup)

.90 .90 + (1-.90)*.80 = .98

Lamp 1

4S-6
 Rule 3

.70
Lamp 3 (backup for Lamp 2)

.80
Lamp 2 (backup for Lamp1)

1 P(all fail)
.90 1-[(1-.90)*(1-.80)*(1-.70)] = .994
Lamp 1

4S-7
 Example 4S-1: Reliability
Determine the reliability of the system shown

.90 .92

.98 .90 .95

4S-8
 Example 4S-1: Solution
The system can be reduced to a series of three
components

.98 .90+.90(1-.90) .95+.92(1-.95)

.98 x .99 x .996 = .966

4S-9
 Failure Rate
Figure 4S.1
Failure Rate

Infant Failures due

Few (random) failures
mortality to wear-out
Time, T

4S-10
 Exponential Distribution
Figure 4S.2

Reliability = e -T/MTBF

1- e -T/MTBF

T Time

4S-11
 Normal Distribution
Figure 4S.3

Reliability

0 z

4S-12
 Availability
The fraction of time a piece of equipment
is expected to be available for operation
MTBF
Availability
MTBF MTR

MTBF = mean time between failures

MTR = mean time to repair

4S-13
 Improving Reliability
Component design
Production/assembly techniques
Testing
Redundancy/backups
Preventive maintenance procedures
User education
System design

4S-14