Chapter Two

Reliability, Maintainability and

Availability
Reliability
• Reliability is the probability that
machinery/equipment/system can perform
continuously, without failure, for a specified
time interval when operating under stated
conditions.
• Increased reliability implies less failure and
consequently less downtime and loss of
production.
• Reliability: A measurement of whether a
system can run continuously without failure
– System continues to function for a long period
of time
Reliability
❑Means quality over the long run.
❑A product that “works” for a long period of time is a
reliable one.
❑Since all units of a product will fail at different times,
reliability is a probability.
• High reliability implies high quality – converse not true.
• It is an important factor in equipment maintenance
because lower equipment reliability means higher need for
maintenance.
 Types of Reliability

• Inherent reliability – predicted by

product design

• Achieved reliability – observed during

use

4
 Types of Failures

• Functional failure – failure that occurs at

the start of product life due to
manufacturing or material defects

• Reliability failure – failure after some

period of use

5
 Failure Rate Curve
• In reliability analysis of engineering systems it is
often assumed that the hazard or time-dependent
failure rate of items

6
 Cont….
• The curve has three distinct regions: burn-in period,
useful life period, and wear-out period.
• The burn-in period is also known as “infant mortality
period,” “break-in period,” or “debugging period.”
• During this time frame the hazard rate decreases
and the failures occur due to many causes.
• Some of the causes of failures in this region include
➢ insufficient design margins,
➢ incorrect use environments,
➢ undetectable defects,
➢ human error and abuse, and
➢ unavoidable failures
 Cont..
• In the useful life period the hazard rate is
constant and the failures occur randomly or
unpredictably.
• The wear-out period begins when the item
passes its useful life period. During the wear-out
period the hazard rate increases.
• Some causes for the occurrence of wear-out
region failures are:
➢ wear due to aging,
➢ inadequate or improper preventive maintenance,
 Cont….
➢ limited-life components,
➢ wear due to friction, misalignments, corrosion
and creep, and
➢ incorrect overhaul practices.
• Wear out period failures can be reduced
significantly by executing effective replacement
and preventive maintenance policies and
procedures.
Reliability
• Causes of Unreliability
– Improper design
– Improper materials
– Manufacturing errors
– Assembly and inspection errors
– Improper testing
– Improper packaging and shipping
– Improper start-up
– User abuse
– misapplication
 Reliability Function
• Probability of failure from (0, t)
F(t) = 1 – e-t
• Reliability function
R(t) = 1 – F(t) = e-t

F(t) = probability of a system will fail by time (t) =

failure distribution function
Eg. If probability of failure F(t) is 20%, then
reliability at time t is
R(t) = 1 – 0.20 = 0.80 or 80%
11
 Reliability Measurement

✓ Failure Rate () – Number of failures per unit time

✓ Mean Time To Repair (MTTR)
✓ Mean Time Between Failure (MTBF)
✓ Mean Time To Failure(MTTF)

12
 1.The Failure Rate

• failure rate is: number of failures per unit operating

time
•  = number of failures/total operating hrs
• failure rate expressed as failures per hour, failures
per million hours, etc.

13
 2. Mean Time Between Failure

• MTBF is a basic measure of an asset’s reliability.

• Mean life () is the average life time of all items
considered
• It is calculated by dividing the total operating time of
the asset by the number of failures over a given
period of time.
• MTBF = total operating time/ number of failure
• Also calculated by MTBF = 1/
 3. Mean Time To Repair

• MTTR is the measure of the department’s ability to

perform maintenance to retain or restore assets to a
specified condition.
• It measures the average time required to restore an
asset to its full operational condition after a failure.
This measurement typically is expressed in hours.
• The equation is straightforward: the total repair time
divided by the number of repairs or replacement
events.
• MTTR = total repair time / number of repair
 4. Mean Time To Failure

• (MTTF) is a maintenance metric that measures the

average amount of time a non-repairable asset
operates before it fails.
• MTTF is relevant only for assets and equipment that
cannot or should not be repaired,
• MTTF can also be thought of as the average lifespan
of an asset.
• MTTF = Total hours of operation / Total assets in use
 Failure Rate Example 1
20 air conditioning units designed for use in
NASA space shuttles operated for 1,000 hours
One failed after 200 hours and one after 600 hours


2
= 20 (100%) = 10%

 =
2
20,000 - 1,200
= 0.000106 failure/unit hr

1
MTBF = .000106 = 9,434 hrs
 Example 2
• 10 components were tested. The components
(not repairable) failed as follows:
✓Component 1 failed after 75 ours
✓Component 2 failed after 125 hours
✓Component 3 failed after 130 hours
✓Component 4 failed after 325 hours
✓Component 5 failed after 525 hours
The failure rate and mean time till failure.
 Determine the MTBF

Solution:
Five failures, operating time = 3805 hours

525
325
130
125 5 x 525
75
 Solution
 = 5 / 3805 = 0.001314
Mean time till failure=1/=1/0.001314
=761.04hours.
 QUIZ
The chart below shows operating time and breakdown time
of a machine.

20.2 2.5 6.1 7.1 24.4 4.2 35.3 1.8 46.7

Operating time Down time

A) determine the failure rate.

B) Determine the MTBF.

C) What is the system reliability for a mission time of 20 hours?
 Example 4
• Systems expected to operate for 1000 hours. It
consists of 4 subsystems in series, MTBFA = 6000
hours, MTBFB = 4500 hours, MTBFC = 10,500 hours,
MTBFD = 3200 hours. Determine overall reliability.
Solution
A = 1 /MTBFA = 1/6000 = 0.000167

B = 1/MTBFB = 1/4500 = 0.000222

C = 1/MTBFC = 1/10500 = 0.000095

D = 1/MTBFD = 1/3200 = 0.000313

= A+ B + C+ D

Therefore; R = e-(0.000797)(1000) = 0.4507

R(t) = 1 – F(t) = e-t
Example

• A first generation computer contains 10000

components each with λ = 0.5%/(1000 hours).
What is the period of 99% reliability?

25
Solution
MTBF = t / (1 – R(t)) = t / (1 – 0.99)
– t = MTBF * 0.01 = 0.01 / λav
– Where λav is the average failure rate
– N = No. of components = 10000
– λ = failure rate of a component
• = 0.5% / (1000 hours) = 0.005/1000 = 5 * 10-6 per
hour

• Therefore, λav = N λ = 10000 * 5 * 10-6 = 5 * 10-2

per hour

• Therefore, t = 0.01 / (5 * 10-2 ) = 12 minutes

System Reliability
❑As products become more complex (have
more components), the chance that they will
not function increases.
❑The method of arranging the components
affects the reliability of the entire system.
❑Components can be arranged in series,
parallel, or a combination.
 Reliability Networks

• This section is concerned with the reliability

evaluation of most standard networks occurring in
engineering systems.
• The networks covered in this section are
series,
parallel, and
standby network
 Series Network

• In this case n number of units forms a series system,

• If any one of the units fails, the system fails.
• All system units must work normally for successful
operation of the system.
• A typical example of a series system is four wheels of
a car. If any one of the tires punctures, the car for
practical purposes cannot be driven. Thus, these four
tires form a series system.
 Series System
❑ For a series systems, the reliability is the
product of the individual components.

1 2 n

RS = R1 R2 ... Rn
❑ As components are added to the series, the
system reliability decreases.
 Parallel Network

• In this case n number of simultaneously operating

units form a parallel system,
• At least one of the units must work normally for
system success.
1
2

Rs = 1 - (1 - R1) (1 - R2)... (1 - Rn)

 Parallel System

❑ When a component does not function, the product

continues to function, using another component,
until all parallel components do not function.
 STANDBY SYSTEM
• In this case one unit is operating and k units are in
standby mode.
• As soon as the operating unit fails, it is immediately
replaced with one of the standby units.
•The system has a total of (k + 1) units.
 Assumptions made to standby system

• The switching mechanism is perfect.

• All system units are independent and identical.
• The standby units remain as good as new in
their standby mode.
• The unit failure rate is non constant.
 Parallel Redundant System in Standby
In the standby configuration one or more subsystems are
ready to take over operation upon failure of the basic
unit.
The standby units are not operative until a failure-sensing
device senses the failure of the basic unit and turns on
and connects the standby unit.

B
35
In parallel systems in standby, the following assumptions are
initially made.
- The means of sensing that failure has occurred
and for switching from the defective to the
standby is assumed to be failure free.
- The standby subsystems are assumed to have
identical, constant failure rates to the main
subsystem.
- The standby subsystems are assumed not to fail
while in the idle state.
- Defective subsystems are assumed to remain so. No
repair is effected until the system has failed.

36
 Reliability Example

R1 R2 R3

.90 .80 .99 Rs

Reliability of the process is

Rs = R1 x R2 x R3 = .90 x .80 x .99 = .713 or 71.3%

 Components in Parallel
Find the reliability of a system with
Example 7:
three components, A, B, and C in parallel. The
reliabilities of A, B, and C are 0.95, 0.92, and
0.90, respectively.

Rs = 1 − (1 − r1 )(1 − r2 )(1 − r3 )
= 1 − (1 − 0.95)(1 − 0.92)(1 − 0.90)
= 1 − 0.0004 = 0.9996

38
• Factors affects reliability
 Design

❑The most important aspect of reliability is

the design.
❑It should be as simple as possible.
❑The fewer the number of components, the
greater the reliability.
❑Another way of achieving reliability is to
have a backup or redundant component
(parallel component).
 Design

❑Reliability can be achieved by overdesign.

❑The use of large factors of safety can increase
the reliability of a product.
❑When an unreliable product can lead to a
fatality or substantial financial loss, a fail-safe
type of device should be used.
❑The maintenance of the system is an important
factor in reliability.
 Production

❑The second most important aspect of

reliability is the production process.
❑Emphasis should be placed on those
components which are least reliable.
❑Production personnel.
 Transportation

❑The third most important aspect of

reliability is the transportation.
❑ Packaging
❑ Shipment
❑Performance of the product by the
customer is the final evaluation.
❑Good packaging techniques and shipment
evaluation are essential.
Availability and Maintainability
For long-lasting products and services such as
refrigerators, electric power lines, and front-
line services, the time-related factors of
availability, reliability, and maintainability are
interrelated.
Availability
• Availability: A measurement of whether a
system is ready to be used immediately
– System is up and running at any given moment
❑It is a time-related factor that measures the
ability of a product or service to perform its
designated function.
❑The product or service is available when it
is in the operational state, which includes
active and standby use.
Availability
Where:A = MTBF
MTBM + MTDT
MTBM = mean time between maintenance
MDT = mean downtime
MTBF = mean time between failures
MTTR = mean time to repair
Availability
• "Mean Time To Repair" is the average time
that it takes to repair something after a
failure.
• For something that cannot be repaired, the
correct term is "Mean Time To Failure"
(MTTF). Some would define MTBF – for
repair-able devices – as the sum of MTTF
plus MTTR.
• In other words, the mean time between
failures(MTBF) is the time from one
failure to another. This distinction is
important if the repair time is a significant
fraction of MTTF.
• Mean Time Between Failures(MTBF) =
(Total up time) / (number of breakdowns)

• Mean Time To Repair(MTTR) = (Total

down time) / (number of breakdowns)

• "Mean Time" means, statistically, the

average time.
 Availability

MTBF
A=
MTBF + MTTR MTBM = mean time between
maintenance
MTD = mean down time
MTBF = mean time between failures
MTTR = mean time to repair

49
Example 4: A
copier machine has a mean time between
failures of 475 operating hours. Repairs typically
require an average of 25 hours from the time that
the repair call is received until service is
completed. Determine the availability of the
copier.
MTBF
A=
MTBF + MTTR

A = 475/(475+25) =.95
50
 Example
• Suppose We have An Operation Scheduled
To Operate For 31 Days. It has three
failures. The Failures Duration Are For 2, 1
And 3 Days. Compute MTBF and MTTR
,Availability, Percentage Down Time ( PDT) ,

51
 Solution

• MTBF = (31 - 6)/3 = 8.33

• MTTR = Down Time From Failures/Number of Failure
• = 6/3 = 2 days

• A= 8.33/(8.33+2)=0.806=80.6%

• PDT = 100 - 80.6 = 19.4

52
Maintainability
• Maintainability is a characteristic of design,
installation, and operation, usually expressed as
the probability that a machine can be retained in,
or restored to, specified operable condition
within a specified interval of time when
maintenance is performed in accordance with
prescribe procedures.
• Maintainability: A measurement of how easy it is
to repair a system
– A highly maintainable system may also show a high
degree of availability
– Failures can be detected and repaired automatically?
Self-healing systems?
Maintainability
• Maintainability of a system is the probability of isolating and
repairing a “fault” in the system within a given time.
• Maintainability is given by:
– M(t) = 1 – exp(-µt)
– Where µ is the repair rate
– And t is the permissible time constraint for the maintenance
action

– µ = 1/(Mean Time To Repair) = 1/MTTR

– M(t) = 1 – exp(-t/MTTR)

54
 Ass.

1. Determine the failure rate for a

80-hour test of 10 items where 2 items
fail at 40 and 70 hours, respectively.
What is the mean life of the product?
2. A module of a satellite monitoring system
has 500 components in series. The reliability
of each component is 0.999. Find the
reliability of the module. If the number of
components is reduced to 200, what is the
reliability?

57
3. Find the reliability of the following
system

0.89

0.99 0.98 0.95

0.89 0.95

58
4. A cement kiln has a requirement to operate
300 days per year, producing at a rate of
1200 tones per 24 hour day. Over the year
its performance has been as follows.
• Scheduled operation time 300 days,
• Number of Breakdowns are 6,
• Delays for Breakdowns accounted for 180 hours
• Preventive Maintenance time is 80 hours
Compute: Availability,

Duffuaa 59
 THE END

THANK YOU