MTBF of MORS-SMITT relays.

MORS-SMITT relays have a long experience in railway applications.

They are in use as standard relay in several applications a.o. the Dutch Railways (NS)
and SNCF applications for many years. In fact, they are designed in co-operation with
the two mentioned Railway operators. Since then many other operators use the MORS-
SMITT relays where a high reliability is required.

RELAY LIFE.

The quality of the relays is shown in the mechanical life of the relays.
The standard specified mechanical life of the D-U200 relay is 30 million operations, see
the specific datasheets for details. Failure at the end of the mechanical life is an end-of-
life failure.

The second specification showing the quality of the relays is the electrical life.
This life is highly depending on the load on the contacts ( Voltage, Current and
Inductance ) and the switching frequency. See the specific datasheets for the contact life
data/curves. Also failure at the end of the electrical life is an end-of-life failure.

MTBF

An independent value coming out of the real praxis is the best way to describe the
MTBF. See the letter of NS attached dated September 15th 1995 and the calculations
made by the NS.

Due to the fact that the value of 2 million hours calculated by the NS includes end-of-life
and start-up failures, are normally excluded in MTBF calculations, the following applies.

The value of 2 million hours is calculated by dividing the total relays*hours/yr

(115,514,000 hours) through the average relay use per year (60 relays, including end-of-
life, start-up and real failures).
As can be determined from the NS data the total number of relays supplied for these
trains are approximately 17,762 (16,502+21 yearsx60). From the supplied relays no
failed relay was returned to us from NS Leidschendam, resulting in an MTBF of
115,5Mhours
To be on the safe side we estimate that from the 60 relays used per year 2 percent
might have been replacements for a failure, resulting in a

MTBF of the D-U200 is 96,261,667 hours

(1,038E-8 failures/hour = 1,038E-9 failures/operation = 960M ops/failures)

FMEA

To get a view on the failure modes, see the attached FMEA analysis.
Failure mode
Instantaneous relays D-U204, D-U204-E, D-U201, D-U201-E, D-U307
D8-U204, D8-U204-E, DL-U204, AK-400-24-AG-SF1
D8 has 8 poles instead of 4 poles
AK-400 and DL-U204 has better resistance against inrush
currents so end of life for welding will be further away
Delay-on timer relays TDB4-U204 0.1-1s, TDB4-U204 3-30s, TDB4-U204 1-10s
Delay-off timer relay TDE-U204-B 0.3-3s
Measuring relay ACD-110 77-94VDC

failure mode
Contact status
EFFECT

NO1 NC1 NO2,3,4 NC2,3,4 COIL remarks

normal function
open closed open closed de-energized
closed open closed open energized
NO FAILURE

open coil
open closed open closed de-energized
open closed open closed energized
FAILURE ON NO CONTACTS ON ENERGIZATION
FAILURE ON NC CONTACTS ON ENERGIZATION

short circuit on the diode

open closed open closed de-energized
open closed open closed energized
FAILURE ON NO CONTACTS ON ENERGIZATION
FAILURE ON NC CONTACTS ON ENERGIZATION

open circuit on the diode

open closed open closed de-energized
closed open closed open energized
NO FAILURE ON THE CONTACTS

spring broken No failures on broken springs

closed open closed open de-energized
closed open closed open energized
FAILURE ON NO CONTACTS ON DE-ENERGIZATION
FAILURE ON NC CONTACTS ON DE-ENERGIZATION
contact welded Normal failure at end of life
closed open open closed de-energized contacts 2,3,4 work
normal
closed open closed open energized
FAILURE ON NO1 ON DE-ENERGIZATION
open closed open closed de-energized
open closed closed open energized contacts 2,3,4 work
normal
FAILURE ON NC1 ON ENERGIZATION

broken contact wire ( contact 1 ) No failures on broken wires

broken contact finger ( contact 1 ) or contact fingers
open open open closed de-energized
open open closed open energized
FAILURE ON NO1 ON ENERGIZATION
FAILURE ON NC1 ON DE-ENERGIZATION

contact contamination, more than the wiping action can handle

contact oxidation
open closed open closed de-energized Because of high
energy ( voltage )
open open closed open energized No failures expected
FAILURE ON NO1 ON ENERGIZATION
open open open closed de-energized
closed open closed open energized
FAILURE ON NC1 ON DE-ENERGIZATION

Almost all failures will be end of life failures.