Name Rathod Indravadansinh B.

Enrollment no. 221370720020

Paper Details
Title of the paper Study and application of Reliability-centered
Maintenance considering Radical Maintenance
Journal Journal of Loss Prevention in the Process Industries
Publisher Elsevier
Publication Date 1 July 2010
DOI https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jlp.2010.06.008
Link Study and application of Reliability-centered Maintenance
considering Radical Maintenance - ScienceDirect

Question-1:
Summarize key industrial safety concepts from a research paper. Explain their significance in
promoting safety in industrial settings.

Reliability-centered Maintenance (RCM) considering Radical Maintenance (RM) is a concept

proposed in the research paper that focuses on identifying the root causes of failures and
making maintenance decisions based on them. It involves conducting a Root Cause Analysis
(RCA) using methods like Failure Mode, Effects and Criticality Analysis (FMECA) and Fault
Tree Analysis (FTA) to create a maintenance plan. This approach helps assign maintenance
resources rationally and improve the quality of maintenance strategies.

Minimum Cut Sets (MCS) are used in Fault Tree Analysis (FTA) to identify the weakest parts
of a system. By determining the MCS, the most important failure modes and elementary
events in the system can be identified. These events, which have high importance values, are
considered the most critical to the system and require immediate maintenance measures.

Criticality evaluation is an important aspect of assessing failure modes in industrial settings.

The study presents a matrix of criticality that considers safety, environment, production loss,
and maintenance cost as evaluation criteria. By determining failure modes based on these
criteria, maintenance resources can be assigned rationally during the formulation of
maintenance strategies.

Root Cause Analysis is a method used to identify the underlying causes of equipment
failures. By analysing the function failure of equipment, the research paper applies RCA to
perform Radical Maintenance and create a maintenance plan. This helps in addressing the
root causes of failures and improving the effectiveness of maintenance strategies.

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Question-2:
Identify and describe two maintenance tools or techniques from the research paper. Explain
their practical application in improving maintenance processes.
Techniques:
1. Reliability-centered Maintenance considering Radical Maintenance
2. Minimum Cut Sets in Fault Tree Analysis

Reliability-centered Maintenance (RCM) considering Radical Maintenance (RM): This

approach combines Root Cause Analysis (RCA) with Failure Mode, Effects and Criticality
Analysis (FMECA) and Fault Tree Analysis (FTA) to create a maintenance plan based on the
root causes of failures. It helps in assigning maintenance resources rationally and improving
the quality of maintenance strategies.

Minimum Cut Sets (MCS) in Fault Tree Analysis (FTA): MCS is used to identify the
weakest parts of a system and determine the most critical failure modes and elementary
events. By focusing on these events, maintenance measures can be prioritized and taken to
ensure the reliability and safety of the system.

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Practical implementation and application:

The method of Reliability-centered Maintenance (RCM) considering Radical Maintenance

(RM) can be practically applied to improve the maintenance process.

By conducting Root Cause Analysis (RCA) and using Failure Mode, Effects and Criticality
Analysis (FMECA) and Fault Tree Analysis (FTA), maintenance plans can be created based
on the root causes of failures, leading to more effective maintenance strategies.

The use of Minimum Cut Sets (MCS) and importance calculation in Fault Tree Analysis
(FTA) helps in identifying the most critical failure modes and elementary events, enabling
maintenance measures to be prioritized and taken to ensure system reliability and safety.

Applying Radical Maintenance (RM) in traditional RCM improves the quality and
practicability of maintenance strategies, leading to enhanced maintenance processes.

Question-3:
Evaluate maintenance and safety techniques from the research paper. Compare with real
world examples. Assess their effectiveness and suggest improvements or limitations.

RCM and RM are both proactive maintenance strategies that aim to improve the reliability of
assets. RCM is a systematic process for identifying and implementing preventive
maintenance tasks for assets, while RM focuses on identifying and eliminating the root
causes of failures.
RM can be used to enhance RCM in a number of ways, including:
 Identifying and eliminating the root causes of failures: RM uses a variety of tools and
techniques to identify the root causes of failures, which can help to reduce the frequency
and severity of failures.
 Developing more effective preventive maintenance tasks: By targeting the root causes
of failures, RM can help to develop more effective preventive maintenance tasks.
 Optimizing maintenance schedules: RM can help to reduce the need for unnecessary
preventive maintenance tasks, which can optimize maintenance schedules.
 Improving the overall reliability of assets: By addressing the underlying causes of
failures, RM can help to improve the overall reliability of assets.

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Examples of how RM can be used to enhance RCM:
 FMECA: RM can be used to supplement FMECA by identifying and analysing the root
causes of failure modes. This information can then be used to develop more effective
preventive maintenance tasks.
 FTA: RM can be used to develop fault trees for complex assets and assets with chronic
failure problems. This information can then be used to identify the root causes of failures
and to develop corrective actions to eliminate them.
 RCA: RM can be used to conduct RCA on failures that occur during the operation of
assets. This information can then be used to identify and eliminate the root causes of
failures and to improve the overall reliability of the assets.

To evaluate Minimum cut set, we need to calculate the probability of each MCS
occurring. This can be done using a variety of methods, including Boolean algebra, event
trees, and fault tree analysis software.
Once we have calculated the probability of each MCS occurring, we can use this
information to assess the overall risk of the system. We can also use this information to
identify the most critical MCSs, and to develop strategies for preventing or mitigating
these failures.
Examples of how MCSs can be used:
 To identify the most critical components of a system.
 To develop preventive maintenance tasks for critical components.
 To design redundant systems.
 To develop safety procedures.
 To assess the risk of a system.

Real-world examples of similar techniques include the use of FTA and FMECA in industries
like aerospace, automotive, and manufacturing to identify failure modes, assess their
criticality, and prioritize maintenance actions.
These techniques have been effective in improving maintenance strategies, reducing
downtime, and enhancing safety in real-world applications.

 Effectiveness of methods:
 The method used in this paper, which combines Radical Maintenance (RM) with
Reliability-centered Maintenance (RCM), has shown effectiveness in improving
maintenance strategies and resource allocation in the petrochemical industry.
 The application of Root Cause Analysis (RCA), Failure Mode, Effects and Criticality
Analysis (FMECA), and Fault Tree Analysis (FTA) in the analysis process has helped

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 in identifying the root causes of failures and evaluating the criticality level of failure
modes.
 The use of Minimum Cut Sets (MCS) and importance calculation has provided a
quantitative analysis of fault trees, aiding in prioritizing maintenance actions.

 Suggestion for improvements:

 Provide more quantitative data and comparative analysis to assess the effectiveness of
the proposed method in terms of maintenance quality improvement and resource
optimization.

 Include a detailed description of the evaluation criteria and matrixes of criticality used
to evaluate the criticality level of failure modes. This would enhance the transparency
and reproducibility of the analysis process.

 Consider incorporating additional methods or techniques for fault analysis and

identification, such as vibration analysis or condition monitoring, to further enhance
the accuracy of root cause analysis and maintenance decision-making.

 Limitations:

 Lack of detailed information on the evaluation criteria and matrixes of criticality used
for assessing the criticality level of failure modes.

 Insufficient explanation of the statistical method and expert experiences used to

determine the failure frequency of each elementary event, raising questions about the
accuracy and reliability of the data