Reliability Engineering
Unit II
Reliability and Validity
FAILURE RATE MODEL
Failure rate is defined as the number of expected failures per
unit in a given time interval.
It is just an expected value—the actual number of failures in
any given time interval may differ from this; for example, a
computer with a failure rate of 12 failures per year does not
necessarily have one failure every month
Bath tub Curve
Most reliability work deals with the useful life period when
the failure rate is constant and the exponential
distribution applies. The wear-out period is of some
interest too and is usually modelled by either the normal
distribution or the Weibull distribution, one of the several
possible distributions.
Example
Ten transformers were tested for 500 h each and four
transformers failed after the following test
time periods:
one failed after 50 h
one failed after 150 h
two failed after 400 h
What is the failure rate for these types of transformers?
Solution
Example
Solution
Reliability Function
Failure Function
Hazard rate curve for Electronic
components
Hazard rate curve for Mechanical
components
From Reliability aspects various
failures laws are as follows
Exponential Function
Example
A component having constant failure rate has reliability of
0.96 for first year.
Obtain (i) Failure rate (ii) MTTF (iii) Reliability for a period of
two years (iv) Median Time (v) Mode
Example
Example
Effect of Wear in Period on
Reliability
Example
Safety and Reliability
There is no distinct line between reliability and safety. Most
systems must be both reliable and safe, however, the
requirements going along with reliability and safety can be
very different and - given fixed total cost , cost - are usually
mutually exclusive.
In theory, safe systems may be unreliable, while reliable
systems may be unsafe. Nevertheless, systems can be designed
in order to be both safe and reliable, but it is very rare that
both requirements are equally important
Example 1: Safe but unreliable
A smoke detector producing many false alarms. As long as
potentially dangerous smoke is detected reliably, the smoke
detector can be considered safe.
By producing many false alarms, the smoke detector is
considered unreliable because it announces dangerous
situations while in reality everything is safe.
The sensor element of this smoke detector may be too
sensitive, and therefore a slight sensitivity reduction may
improve reliability without affecting safety.
Example 2: Reliable, but unsafe
An old hedge trimmer. There is only one switch to operate the
hedge trimmer. If pressed, the trimmer starts immediately
with full speed.
Due to its simplicity, the electrical part of such a hedge
trimmer would be more reliable than those trimmers available
today.
Today's hedge trimmers have at least two switches. Both
switches must be activated in order to operate the trimmer,
and the switch positions are such that you will need both
hands in order to activate them. Additionally, modern hedge
trimmers have a soft start which inherently serves as an
announcement function for the operator.
Beyond any reasonable doubt, these features make modern
hedge trimmers safe. The downside effect is that, due to more
electrical parts involved, modern trimmers are relatively
unreliable.
Example 3: Reliable and safe
Railroad crossing, controlled by three independent and redundant
controllers. Each controller would be able to handle the railway
crossing on it's own. Under normal conditions, all three controllers
yield identical outputs from input data. If one controller fails, there
are still two controllers left in order to keep the railroad crossing in a
safe state.
The operation philosophy is as follows:
As long as all three controllers yield identical results, everything is
OK.
If the output of one controller is different from the other two, repair
must be completed within the next 24 hours. In the meantime, the
railroad crossing continues operating as usual.
If all three controllers yield different outputs, the railroad crossing
will be closed (if not already closed) and will remain closed until
repair has been finished.
This system is safe and reliable at the same time:
Safe: 2 of 3 controllers must yield identical results,
Reliable: The loss of one controller can be tolerated.
Network methods of Reliability
Evaluation
Reliability network in no way represents the connection of
components in a physical system.
Series network
Parallel System
Reliability Block Diagram
Example
Three components each with a reliability of 0.9 are placed in
series. What is the reliability of the system ?
Sol.) The system reliability is the product of the component
reliabilities. ․ Rs= 0.93 = 0.729
A control system consists of three separate sub-systems, all
components of which have reliabilities that are exponentially
distributed. The sub-systems are having a failure
rate of 5 × 10−6 f/hr, 2 × 10−6 f/hr and 10 × 10−6 f/hr of which
two components must operate for success. Evaluate the
probability of successful survival of the system for a period of
5000 hrs.
System will be successful if all the three components are
working, or if any of the two combinations are working, hence,
Rs (t) = R1(t)R2(t)R3(t) + R1(t)R2(t)Q3(t) + Q1(t)R2(t)R3(t) +
R1(t)Q2(t)R3(t)
References
1.Practical Reliability Engineering, Fifth Edition, Patrick
D.T.O’Connor and Andre Klyener. 2012 John Wiley and Sons ,
Ltd.
2. Reliability Engineering ,Volume 3 , K.K. Agrawal , 1993
Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht.
