6 System Failure Modeling
Chapter Overview and Learning Objectives
- To understand the objectives and characteristics of using a reliability block diagram.
- To understand the characteristics of the series system model, and calculate the system reliability.
- To learn the characteristics of the parallel system model, and draw a reliability block diagram.
- To calculate the system reliability of the combined serial–parallel system models.
- To learn the requirements of the k-out-of-n system models, and calculate the system reliability.
To understand the characteristics of the minimal paths and minimal cuts, and calculate the system reliability.
6.1 Reliability Block Diagram
In previous chapters, we have been focusing on the failure characteristics of individual items. In reality, many devices and products are constructed as a system. A single smart phone consists of several hundreds of components inside. Some components could have similar failure mechanisms, whereas others could have completely different failure characteristics. This complexity is a motivation for understanding system failure modeling.
By studying system failure modeling, we can explore several questions:
- How do different designs of the system affect the overall reliability?
- What are the benefits of redundant design?
- What is the proper design (parallel or series) of components to achieve the desired reliability?
Reliability block diagrams are a graphical way to demonstrate the system. Components are connected in ...
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