Reliability Engineering

Lakshman
What is Reliability?
 Reliability is the integral of the distribution of
probabilities of failure-free operation from instant
switch on to the first failure
 The reliability of a component (or system) is the
probability that the component (or system) will not
fail for a time “t”
 Reliability is the probability that a device will operate
without a failure for a given period of time under
given operating conditions
What is Reliability?
 Reliability is mean operating time of a given
specimen between two failures
 The reliability of a system is called its capacity for
failure free operation for a definite period of time
under given operating conditions and for minimum
time lost for repair and preventive maintenance
 The reliability of equipment is arbitrarily assumed to
be the equipment capacity to maintain given
properties under specified operating conditions and
for given period of time
What is Reliability?
What is Reliability?
 Reliability is the ability of an item to operate
as intended under designated operating
conditions for a designated period of time or
cycles
 Item (System, Equipment, Component, Product,
etc)
 Ability (Deterministic or Probabilistic)
 Operate (as intended)
 Time (or cycles)
 Conditions (operating conditions)
Is reliability sufficient?
 2 Systems
System 1 System2
Failure rate 1/year Failure rate 2/year
Non-repairable!!!! Repairable
Long replacement time Short repair time

What do you choose?

Maintainability & Availability
 Maintainability: item’s ability to be quickly
restored to perform intended function,
following its failure
 Availability: the probability that an item is
operating satisfactorily at any point in time
when used under designated operating
conditions.
 Here the time includes operating time, active
repair time, administrative time and logistic time.
What is an item?
 Element
 A simple object which cant be further divided, Example: Resistor,
capacitor
 Component
 Collection of elements arranged in prescribed order, Example:
Relay
 Equipment
 Collection of components/elements arranged to operate without
the need for other components, Example: Diesel generator, UPS
 System
 Collection of equipment arranged to perform a function, Example:
Emergency power supply system
 Product
 A substance or object manufactured using a process, Example:
Chemicals
What is ‘ability’ expected from
an “item” – With Car Example
 Ability to satisfy functional needs
 Should be capable to transport people & goods
 Effectively utilize the energy supplied
 Good Mileage!!
 Ability to start and continue to operate
 Start on ignition and continue to run until
destination
 Ability to quickly start following its failure
 Quick and easy repair