RAMS Management For A Complex Railway System: A Case Study: November 2014

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RAMS Management for a Complex Railway System: A Case Study
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2014 ARS, India: Bangalore
Blue-S7 Current Time:
Begins at 11:35 AM, Thursday, November 13 11:32 AM
RAMS Management for a Complex

Railway System: A Case Study
Dr. Ajeet Kumar Pandey
AECOM India Pvt. Ltd., Hyderabad, India
Brief: Myself and Proposal
Applied Reliability Symposium, India 2014
Publications:
15 Research Papers in the
area of Reliability & Safety
to International Journals &
Conference Proceedings
 Proposal: To achieve the specified KPIs through RAMS management of subsystems

of complex Railway System. The focus is on translating the KPIs into RAM
parameters and allocating these values to subsystems.
 Key Points: MRTS, Service Affecting Failure, MTBSAF, Punctuality, RAM
Apportionment.
Dr. Ajeet Kumar, AECOM Blue S7 Slide Number: 2
Vocabulary
 CENELEC: European Committee for Electrotechnical Standardization
 KPI: Key Performance Indicator
 LCC: Life Cycle Cost
 MRTS: Mass Rapid Transit Systems

 MTBF: Mean Time Between Failure
 MTBSAF : Mean Time Between Service Affecting Failure
 MTTR: Mean Time to Repair
 MTTSR: Mean Time to Service Restore (MTTSR)
 RAMS: Reliability, Availability, Maintainability & Safety
 RA/RSI: Railway Authorities / Railway Support Industries
 SAF: Service Affecting Failure
 RS: Rolling Stock

 S&TC: Signaling & Train Control
 TRW: Track Work
 OETS: Overhead Electric Traction System
 PSS: Power Supply & SCADA
 COM: Communication
Agenda
 Introduction: RAMS 5 min

 System Assurance: RAMS & LCC 5 min

 Railway RAMS 5 min
 KPI of Metro Rail 5 min
 RAM Apportionment 10 min
 A Case Study on RAM Apportionment 10 min
 Summary 10 min
 Relevant References
 Questions 10 min

Introduction: RAMS
Product RAMS Project RAMS  Why RAM & Safety should be handled separately in
Railway Systems?
• Failure nature (All failures Vs dangerous failures
RAM Safety
• Analysis nature (Supposed to do Vs…)

 • Goal nature ( Failure free Vs …)
• Requirements nature ( performance & safety
related)
• Etc…..
Myths & Facts
 Reliability theory can’t predict when a product will fail but can predict about the
population.
 The product that is not used in time domain the Quality is concern. Reliability is a
time based quantitative measure. A poor quality product may be more reliable and
vice-versa.
 RAMS is long term system characteristic and achieved by the application of

established engineering concepts, methods, tools and techniques throughout the
lifecycle of the system.
 Reliability of a system at its MTBF is only 36%. So, do’t get confused with reliability
and MTBF.

Introduction: RAMS
Myths & Facts
 Reliability of a product is 100% only if you do not use it. As the value of t increase, R
starts decreasing and the rate of change will depends the product design, materials,
etc. (Strength decreases over time…….).
 Reliability is built-in design, when design is over we have lost the maximum control
over reliability. Further, during manufacturing, Quality helps to achieve the R(max).
 Design for Reliability

 Strength and Stress Analysis (Why system fails?)
 Failure Data Analysis ( how to get failures data?)
 Repairable and Non-Repairable Systems reliability characterization.
 Failure Pattern: It may be IFR, CFR, and DFR.

RAM Parameters
 Reliability is the ability of a system or component to perform its required
function under stated conditions for a specified period of time [IEEE 90].
 Availability on the other hand, is the degree to which a system or

component is operational and accessible when required for use [IEEE 90].
Availability is often looked at because, when a failure does occur, it is critical to

find that how quickly the system can be recovered.
 MTBF is well accepted but shall be used with well defined context.
 Engineers are never wrong; they just make bad assumptions. The same is
true in the case of MTBF which impacts both reliability & availability.

System Assurance
System Assurance
Product Assurance Process Assurance People Assurance

Project Execution Team
Specifying Requirements
(LTMRHL, Consultants & Contractors)
(Are we making the right system?)
O&M Team
RAM Assurance
External Stake holders
Requirement Satisfaction Safety Assurance (ISA, IRA, SC, CMRS …)
(Are we making the system right?) Quality Assurance
System Integration Assurance
EMI/EMC Assurance
Testing & Commissioning Assurance
Safety, Health & Environment
Software Quality Assurance

Why System Assurance?
 In first impression the project team feels RAMS is a obstruction because they are
not able to visualize the future payoff. RAMS Assurance is similar to Life Insurance
where by little investment bigger risk can be managed.
 RAMS and LCC analysis are to optimize the performance (KPI) of project and make
it economically viable.
 RAMS analysis is used to establish the need of maintenance by analyzing preventive

and corrective maintenance data, Inspection decision, spare managements, etc.
 LCC is a method of highlighting the cost of investment. Operation, and maintenance

and unplanned interruption throughout the life cycle of the project
 Balancing Performance Requirements and

R Cost
A
 Comply with the regulatory/client requirements
M
 Customer Satisfaction
S

Railway RAMS
 RAMS is long term system characteristic and objective
 Railways cover almost 70-80% of the total transportation industries.

Modernization of railways systems created new challenges before RA and

RSI to deliver a safe and reliable system.
 Railway infrastructure is a complex system and long useful life. Once

installed, it is very difficult to modify the initial design.
 System performance depends on the maintenance and renewal decisions

taken during its life cycle.
 Reliability and Maintainability is to a large extent an inherent design feature

of the system and impact a lot to total life cycle cost (LCC). Focus shall be
DFR / DFM.
 The RAMS concept is relatively new to the Railways as compared to

industries such as nuclear, power, chemical, avionic etc.

Railway RAMS
 The RAMS concept is relatively new to the Railways as compared
to industries such as nuclear, power, chemical, avionic etc.
 European Std. EN 50126 defines a process for managing RAMS.

The process is useful for RA and RSI to specify and demonstrate
the RAMS Requirements for Railway Applications.
 Basically EN50126 is developed for main line railways but can be
applicable and useful for other MRTS systems such as:
 Light Rail Transit (LRT)
 Tramways
 Monorails
 Heavy Rail Transit (Metro Rail), etc.

Why Railway RAMS?
 RAMS assurance will helps the stakeholders in balancing performance requirements
with LCC, improve customer satisfaction along with the compliance of
National/International regulatory requirements.
 Many International Standards have suggested that RAMS characteristic can be

visualized as the key performance indicator (KPI) at system level.
 CENELEC STD (EN 50126, 50128, & 50129 are European standards and guidelines
for Railways Authorities (RAs) and Railways Support Industries (RSIs) to implement
and manage the RAMS concept across the Railway System Development.
 Its applicability to different subsystems of varies and depends on various influencing

factors. Although RAMS targets for each individual subsystem vary, their contribution
to the system RAMS are vital.
 The key objective of a railway system (as well as metro system) is to achieve a
defined level of rail traffic in a given time, safely. The objective can be fulfilled by
implementing the RAMS principle and process as suggested by EN 50126/ EN
50128/EN 50129.

Why Railway RAMS?
 The key objective of a railway systems is to achieve a defined KPIs. The
objective can be fulfilled by implementing the RAMS principle and process
as suggested by EN 50126/ EN 50128/EN 50129.
 RAMS in railways emergent due to the need for better quality of services and
performance need.
 Safety and availability are higher level RAMS characteristics and can only
be achieved by meeting all reliability and maintainability requirements and
controlling the ongoing, long term operation and maintenance activities.

KPI of Metro Rail
 Since RAMS is a system level target, a good understanding of technical
specifications (TS) of the sub-system is necessary to analyze the RAM of
the system.
 Clarity on KPI: How to meet or exceed our KPI Target?
 How many subsystems are involved and how many of these are going to
affect our KPI target.

KPI & RAM Management
Concept Design & Construction & Testing, Trial Run & System Use &
Implementation Installation Commissioning Support
COD
Conceptual
Design
(CDR) DLP
Invitation of
Tender & V&V
Contract Preliminary Release &
Award Design Subsystem Warranty
(PDR) Support
ITC
Specification
Allocation • Condition Monitoring
Design methods Final Design • Warranty Analysis
(FDR) • RCM
• Certification
Update
R RAM Analysis & RAM Test/ RAM Test/
A Plan
Prediction Demonstration Plan Demonstration/FRACAS/ Report
M
AFC
RS S & TC COM PSS OETS TWK

Reliability, Availability & Maintainability Submissions (Contractor)

Testing,
Trial Run
Design & Construction & Defect

# Deliverables &
Implementation Installation Liability
Commissi
oning
1 Sub-system RAM plan P U U -
2 Requirement Management Plan P U U -
3 Sub-system RAM Apportionment Report P - - -
4 RAM Analysis Report (Preliminary & Detailed) P U U U
5 FMECA / FMEA / FTA P U U U
6 Reliability & Maintainability Critical Item List P U U U
7 Traceability Matrix P U U -
8 Failure Management System (FRACAS) Plan - P U U
9 List of Spares & Tools P U U U
Component RAM Testing Plan / Report /
10 Certificate - P U -
11 Sub-system RAM demonstration Plan P U U U
12 Sub-system RAM demonstration Report - - P U
13 Monthly RAM Report (Regular) - - - P


KPI of Metro Rail
 The Metro Rail systems: Civil works and Systems works.
 System work: Core subsystems (RS, S&TC, OETS, TRW, PSS and COM)
and Non-core in the context of KPI.
 Failure: SAF and Non-SAF

o A failure is considered as SAF when the arrival of the train at the terminal
station is delayed by more than one minute against its scheduled time table
or missed trip as per time table.
 Core Subsystems have potential to create the SAF depending on its degree
of criticality of functions. These Core Subsystems are neither equally critical
nor do they impact equally on the service delay.
 Some subsystems (e.g. RS and S&TC) may have the more impact on the
overall system punctuality than others.
 Therefore, it is crucial to allocate a RAM target to these subsystems in order

to meet System level RAM requirements i.e. punctuality. To meet the system
RAM target (Say 95% punctuality with 1 minute), a RAM apportionment
model is needed.
KPI of Metro Rail Cont…
 KPIs of Metro Rails can be used for the following purposes:
 Setting and monitoring contractual performance through technical specifications (TS)

/general specifications (GS) (e.g. subsystem contractors, operation and maintenance

contractors, etc. suppliers, etc.).
 Explaining the project feasibility to stakeholders (e.g. regulator, financiers, government).
 For better project control by providing a better understanding of many project deliverables.
 “Punctuality” may be one of the KPI of a Metro Rail System. The punctuality
target for the day may be specified as 95% with 1 minute ( say for example).
 Service Punctuality= [(No. of completed trip without delayed at terminal by more than 1
minutes as per the schedule)/ (Total no. of scheduled trips)] x 100
 RAM distribution to core subsystems plays a crucial role to meet the

punctuality target of Metro Rail system. Alternatively, these subsystems
need focused RAM approach implementation throughout the development of
these subsystems

KPI of Metro Rail: Assumptions & Facts
 Only SAFs of Core subsystems are considered for RAM calculations. A single SAF of
a subsystem may result into delay or cancelation of multiple trips.
 Total delayed (cancelled) trips for each subsystem will depend on the MTBSAF,
MTTSR and operational head way.
 Mean Time to Service Restore (MTTSR) is considered rather than Mean Time to
Repair
 Unpunctuality of train service due to operational factors is assumed to be 50% of the

total unpunctuality which is a worst case assumption.
 Data1: No. of lines and its length, no. of train at each corridor with operational head
way.
 Data2: The average km. rum by a train is assumed to be ( say 125000) Km per year.
A total operational hour per year is 6752.5 assuming that operational hour per day is
18.5 hours.
 Data3: MTBSAF/MKBSAF for different Sub-systems for different failure categories

are assumed as per the earlier or similar Metro systems.

KPI & RAM
 Punctuality of a MRTS system can be calculated as:
 P is the punctuality of the MRTS system for a specified period of

time (say, for 10 years); is the number of planned trips per year
including all the lines; and is the number of delayed/cancelled
trips per year including all the lines. These values shall be
calculated for each line separately as:

RAM Apportionment: Case Study
 Dataset used for Analysis
 For OETS, PSS, and TRW MTBF values are independent of trains and lines and
are assumed to be 2000, 485, and 1460 Hours respectively.
 For OETS, PSS, and TRW MTTSR values are flat and independent failure type
and are assumed to be 180, 60, and 90 Minutes respectively.
 From do we get these failure data?

 From earlier /similar projects data
 From the manufacturer of the subsystem
 From data books
 From the certification & regulatory agencies
 From FMEDA & expert opinion
 MTBSAF and MTTSR of RS and S&TS will depend on train and line as follows:
MTTSR Data (in minutes) MTBSAF/MKBAF Data (in hours)

Delay Range RS/Train-Km S&TC /Corridor Delay Range RS/Train-Km S&TC /Corridor
1 to < 2 Min. 1.25 1.24 1 to < 2 Min. 10,000 100
2 to < 5 Min. 3.00 4.00 2 to < 5 Min. 60,000 240
5 to < 20 Min. 10.00 15.00 5 to < 20 Min. 90,000 1200
20 to < 60 Min. 45.00 20 to < 60 Min. 7008

60.00 3,600,000
>= 60 Min. 90.00 >= 60 Min. 26720

Case Study: RS (Reliability)
 MDBF shall be calculated by dividing the total car-km/ train-km travelled in a
particular period by the total number of failure accumulated during that
period.
A MTBSAF Prediction
Reliability Target for Car( or Train) carried out by the RS
Supplier/ Contractor
Level as per contract: MTBSAF

Case Study: RS (Availability)
 The trains supplied shall achieved a minimum availability of 96.5 % (Say).
 The availability can be derived as:
 Total Time is the time in hours in the

assessment period multiplied by the
number of trains commissioned
under the Contract.
 DT(SC), or Down Time due to service checks, is the total down time in hours due
to service checks summed over all the trains commissioned under the Contract
during the assessment period.
 DT(OPM), or Down Time due to Other Preventive Maintenance, is the total down
time in hours due to Preventive Maintenance other than service checks.
 DT (CM), or Down Time due to Corrective Maintenance, is the total down time in
hours due to corrective maintenance, summed over all sessions carried out on the
trains commissioned under the Contract during the assessment period.

Case Study: RS (Maintainability)
 The trains supplied shall achieved a minimum availability of 96.5 % (Say).
 The availability can be derived as:
Maintainability Prediction done by
the contractor
Maintainability Requirement

Case Study: RAM Analysis of RS
A complete RAM Prediction Analysis done by the Contractor

Case Study: RAM Apportionment of Metro Rail

Summary
 RAMS is a long term system/product/project objective. Objective and scope
of product & project RAMS are different.
 Project RAMS are tightly coupled with LCC and KPI. RAM and Safety should
handled separately for project level.
 The RAMS concept is relatively new to the Railways as compared to

industries such as nuclear, power, chemical, avionic etc.
 Punctuality can be a important KPI for Metro Rail.
 System punctuality target needs to be translated in terms of Reliability,

Availability, and Maintainability.
 A RAM Apportionment methodology has been discussed to meet the

system level RAM target and the KPI.

Where to Get More Information
 EN 50126: Railway Applications - The specification and demonstration of Reliability,
Availability, Maintainability and Safety (RAMS), 1999.
 EN 50128: Railway Applications - Communications, Signaling and Processing

Systems- Software for Railway Control and Protection Systems, 2011.
 EN 50129: Railway Applications - Safety Related Electronic Systems for Signaling,

2003.
 International Engineering Safety Managements Guidance – iESM 4, Vol. 1 & 2, 2013.

 Engineering Safety Management (The Yellow Book), Rail Safety and Standards
Board on behalf of the UK Rail Industry, 2007.

Dr. Ajeet Kumar Pandey
 Qualification: Ph.D. (Reliability Engineering) from IIT
Kharagpur, Kharagpur, W.B. India.
 Working as Sr. Engineer- RAMS at AECOM India Pvt. Ltd.,

Hyderabad, India.
 Work Area: Reliability and Safety (Assessment and Prediction),

Regulatory and Compliance of Safety Critical System
 Email: ajeet.kumar@aecom.com, ajeet.mnnit@gmail.com
 Voice: (+91) 40 232-50527, 888 64 11889

Questions
Thank you for your attention.
Do you have any questions?
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RAMS Management for a Complex Railway System: A Case Study

Conference Paper · November 2014

Ajeet Kumar Pandey

The user has requested enhancement of the downloaded file.

RAMS Management for a Complex

 Proposal: To achieve the specified KPIs through RAMS management of subsystems

 MRTS: Mass Rapid Transit Systems

 RS: Rolling Stock

 Introduction: RAMS 5 min

 System Assurance: RAMS & LCC 5 min

Dr. Ajeet Kumar, AECOM Blue S7 Slide Number: 4

• Analysis nature (Supposed to do Vs…)

 RAMS is long term system characteristic and achieved by the application of

Dr. Ajeet Kumar, AECOM Blue S7 Slide Number: 5

etc. (Strength decreases over time…….).

 Design for Reliability

Dr. Ajeet Kumar, AECOM Blue S7 Slide Number: 6

 Availability on the other hand, is the degree to which a system or

Availability is often looked at because, when a failure does occur, it is critical to

Dr. Ajeet Kumar, AECOM Blue S7 Slide Number: 7

Product Assurance Process Assurance People Assurance

Dr. Ajeet Kumar, AECOM Blue S7 Slide Number: 8

 RAMS analysis is used to establish the need of maintenance by analyzing preventive

 LCC is a method of highlighting the cost of investment. Operation, and maintenance

 Balancing Performance Requirements and

Dr. Ajeet Kumar, AECOM Blue S7 Slide Number: 9

 Railways cover almost 70-80% of the total transportation industries.

Modernization of railways systems created new challenges before RA and

 Railway infrastructure is a complex system and long useful life. Once

 System performance depends on the maintenance and renewal decisions

 Reliability and Maintainability is to a large extent an inherent design feature

 The RAMS concept is relatively new to the Railways as compared to

Dr. Ajeet Kumar, AECOM Blue S7 Slide Number: 10

 European Std. EN 50126 defines a process for managing RAMS.

Dr. Ajeet Kumar, AECOM Blue S7 Slide Number: 11

 Many International Standards have suggested that RAMS characteristic can be

 Its applicability to different subsystems of varies and depends on various influencing

Dr. Ajeet Kumar, AECOM Blue S7 Slide Number: 12

Dr. Ajeet Kumar, AECOM Blue S7 Slide Number: 13

 Clarity on KPI: How to meet or exceed our KPI Target?

Dr. Ajeet Kumar, AECOM Blue S7 Slide Number: 14

RS S & TC COM PSS OETS TWK

Dr. Ajeet Kumar, AECOM Blue S7 Slide Number: 15

Reliability, Availability & Maintainability Submissions (Contractor)

Design & Construction & Defect

Dr. Ajeet Kumar, AECOM Blue S7 Slide Number: 16

Dr. Ajeet Kumar, AECOM Blue S7 Slide Number: 17

and Non-core in the context of KPI.

 Failure: SAF and Non-SAF

 Therefore, it is crucial to allocate a RAM target to these subsystems in order

 KPIs of Metro Rails can be used for the following purposes:

 Setting and monitoring contractual performance through technical specifications (TS)

/general specifications (GS) (e.g. subsystem contractors, operation and maintenance

 RAM distribution to core subsystems plays a crucial role to meet the

Dr. Ajeet Kumar, AECOM Blue S7 Slide Number: 19

 Unpunctuality of train service due to operational factors is assumed to be 50% of the

 Data3: MTBSAF/MKBSAF for different Sub-systems for different failure categories

Dr. Ajeet Kumar, AECOM Blue S7 Slide Number: 20

 P is the punctuality of the MRTS system for a specified period of

Dr. Ajeet Kumar, AECOM Blue S7 Slide Number: 21

 From do we get these failure data?

MTTSR Data (in minutes) MTBSAF/MKBAF Data (in hours)