INTRODUCTION TO RCM

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 INTRODUCTION TO RCM
What is RCM?

• Reliability-Centered Maintenance (RCM)

An analytical process used to determine

preventive maintenance requirements.

PREVENTIVE CORRECTIVE
MAINTENANCE MAINTENANCE

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 INTRODUCTION TO RCM
What is RCM?

• Effective preventive maintenance strategy

focuses on avoiding or reducing
CONSEQUENCES of failures

• Significant Failure Consequences affect:

• Personnel Safety
• Environmental Health
• Mission Accomplishment
• Economics

• Non-significant Failure Consequences

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 INTRODUCTION TO RCM
RCM History:

• Early PM Programs based on concept

that periodic overhauls ensured
reliability and, therefore, safety

• Research by commercial airline industry

in the 60’s determined overhauls had
little or no effect on reliability or safety

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 INTRODUCTION
INTRODUCTIONTO
TORCM
RCM
RCM History:

WEAR OUT CURVES

A D
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14%

4% B E
11% 2% 89%
5%
68%

C F

Note: Only 11 % of the items will benefit by limiting operating age.

A Electric motors B Reciprocating engines C Turbine engines D? E Light bulbs F Electronics 13
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 INTRODUCTION TO RCM
RCM History:

• Commercial airlines industry developed

methodology referred to as MSG Logic

• Concept adopted by military in early

1970s

• Eventually evolved into present RCM

Program

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 INTRODUCTION TO RCM
RCM Policy:

RCM should be used to . . .

• develop
• justify
• sustain
. . . all PM requirements

Any deviation from this policy requires

approval of AIR-3.2
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FAILURES

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 Failure

FAILURE: Any identifiable deviation from the

original condition that is unsatisfactory to a
particular user.

Two types:

FUNCTIONAL FAILURE - Inability of item to

perform a specific function within desired
performance limits

POTENTIAL FAILURE - Identifiable and

measurable condition that indicates an
impending functional failure 25
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 Failure
. . . continued

FAILURE MODE - The specific physical

condition or state that causes a particular
functional failure

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CONSEQUENCES OF FAILURE

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Use of : Consequences of Failure

Some failures must be prevented . . .

. . . others can be allowed to occur.

Failure consequences
determine the correct
approach.

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 Controlling: Consequences of Failure

When the failure consequences

warrant attention, the goal of RCM
is to control the consequences by:

• avoiding them entirely

• reducing them to an
acceptable level

01/10/97 26
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Evident and Hidden: Consequences of Failure

Functional Failures divided into two categories:

• Evident Failure: A failure that, by itself, is

obvious to the crew or operator during the
performance of normal duties

• Hidden Failure: A failure that is not evident

to the crew or operator while performing
their normal duties

A Multiple Failure is a combination of a hidden

failure plus a second failure or other event that
makes the hidden failure evident
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Strategy: Consequences of Failure

Evident failures:

• Prevent the consequence of single

failure

Hidden failures:

• Prevent consequences of multiple

failure

• Prevent economic consequence of

single failure
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 Consequences: Consequences of Failure

The evident and hidden groups

are further divided based on
failure effects:

• Safety
#1 • Environment
• Operations
• Economics
#2

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Categories: Consequences of Failure

In summary, failure consequences

are a categorization of failure
effects.
RCM uses four categories:
• Evident Safety/Environmental
• Hidden Safety/Environmental
• Evident Economical/Operational
• Hidden Economical/Operational
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ACCEPTABILITY
CRITERIA

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Defining Limits: Acceptability Criteria

Each program must define

acceptable limits pertaining to:
• Safety - Probability of failure
• Loss of mission - Converted to a cost
• Economics - Cost

Probability of failure: The instantaneous

probability that a given failure mode will
occur

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 Use of: Acceptability Criteria

Limits of acceptability are used to:

• Determine which failure modes
require analysis
• Develop a PM requirement that
prevents the consequence to an
acceptable degree

Note: One failure may affect safety, mission, and

economics. Criteria for each appropriate category
must be met when analyzing a failure mode.
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Safety: Acceptability Criteria

Failure Mode filter -

• Program sets probability limit (documents
limit in RCM plan)
• Analyst uses limit to eliminate acceptable
failure modes from analysis
• Analyst documents all failure modes
including those that will not be analyzed
(acceptable)

Preventive Maintenance determination -

• Actual probability of failure  Acceptable
probability of failure

Definitions to follow . . . 26
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Pacc : Acceptability Criteria

Acceptable Probability of Failure (Pacc):

The instantaneous probability of failure for a
given failure mode that a weapon system
program is willing to accept

• The more severe the consequences, the

lower Pacc should be
• Values are defined by the weapon
system program
• Values are documented in the RCM plan
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 Pact : Acceptability Criteria

Actual Probability of Failure: The

instantaneous probability that a given
failure mode will occur based on the
current operating environment of
the item, including any scheduled
maintenance
• Task in place: Pact can be measured from in-service
data.
• No task in place: Pact is based on statistical failure
distributions that approximate future performance of
the item with the task in place.

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 Pmf : Acceptability Criteria

Multiple failures:
Probability of multiple failure: Product
of the hidden failure’s Pact value and
the probability of the second
failure/event of the multiple failure

Pmf = Phidden x Padditional

Where:
Pmf = probability of multiple failure
Phidden = probability of the hidden failure
Padditional = probability of an additional failure/event

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Operational/ Economic: Acceptability Criteria

Failure Mode filter -

• Program sets dollar amount (documents
limit in RCM plan)
• Analyst uses limit to eliminate acceptable
failure modes from analysis
• Analyst documents all failure modes
including those that will not be analyzed
(acceptable)

PM determination -
• Cost of preventive maintenance must be
less than the cost of repair

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RELIABILITY

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 Reliability

Reliability: Probability that an asset will

perform its intended function for a specified
period of time under specified operating
conditions
Reliability is a function of the asset’s design,
manufacturing process, operation, and preventive
maintenance.

Inherent Reliability: Maximum reliability an

asset can achieve based on its design and
manufacturing process
Maintenance may increase an item’s reliability, but not
its inherent reliability.
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 TYPES OF
MAINTENANCE

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Two Types: Types of Maintenance

• Scheduled maintenance - performed

for the purpose of avoiding the
consequences of failures
• Unscheduled maintenance -
performed to repair failures that
have occurred

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 RCM PROCESS OVERVIEW
Flow Chart: NEED FOR RCM RCM Process
• Initial
Application
• Sustaining

RCM PLAN Plan that describes how the RCM

program will be developed, implemented, and sustained Output: Guidance to RCM manager,
throughout the equipment’s life. analysts, and other team members.
HARDWARE BREAKDOWN End item is
broken down to the level that the analysis will take place

Output: Individual analysis items

FMECA Analysis to determine how the analysis item
can fail, the effects of those failures, and other failure
information.
Output: Information on each reasonably
likely failure mode of the analysis item.
SIGNIFICANT FUNCTION SELECTION
Analysis to determine whether the failure of a function has
significant effects on safety, environment, operations, or
economics Output: Identity of functions which are
significant enough to warrant further
analysis.
RCM TASK EVALUATION Analysis to determine
what options are available that will deal successfully with
each mode of failure.
Output: PM requirements and
Identification of when action outside of
RCM TASK SELECTION Analysis to determine RCM is warranted.
which solution is the most acceptable.

Output: The preventive task(s) or other

actions that deal most effectively with the
IMPLEMENTATION Things done to apply the failure mode.
output of RCM to the maintenance program.

• NOTE: The Task Evaluation and

FEEDBACK In-service and
Task Selection make up the RCM
operator/maintainer input
Decision Logic. 30
 RCM PROCESS OVERVIEW
Flow Chart: NEED FOR RCM RCM Process
• Initial
Application
• Sustaining

RCM PLAN Plan that describes how the RCM

program will be developed, implemented, and sustained Output: Guidance to RCM manager,
throughout the equipment’s life. analysts, and other team members.
HARDWARE BREAKDOWN End item is
broken down to the level that the analysis will take place

Output: Individual analysis items

FMECA Analysis to determine how the analysis item
can fail, the effects of those failures, and other failure
information.
Output: Information on each reasonably
likely failure mode of the analysis item.
SIGNIFICANT FUNCTION SELECTION
Analysis to determine whether the failure of a function has
significant effects on safety, environment, operations, or
economics Output: Identity of functions which are
significant enough to warrant further
analysis.
RCM TASK EVALUATION Analysis to determine
what options are available that will deal successfully with
each mode of failure.
Output: PM requirements and
Identification of when action outside of
RCM TASK SELECTION Analysis to determine RCM is warranted.
which solution is the most acceptable.

Output: The preventive task(s) or other

actions that deal most effectively with the
IMPLEMENTATION Things done to apply the failure mode.
output of RCM to the maintenance program.

• NOTE: The Task Evaluation and

FEEDBACK In-service and
Task Selection make up the RCM
operator/maintainer input
Decision Logic. 31
 RCM PROCESS OVERVIEW
FMECA: RCM Process

• A process used to identify and document,

within established ground rules, the functions,
functional failures, and failure modes of an
item
• Determines the significance of functional
failures in terms of . . .
- personnel safety
- environment
- mission success
- economic impact
• Classifies severity of each failure effect
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 RCM PROCESS OVERVIEW
Flow Chart: NEED FOR RCM RCM Process
• Initial
Application
• Sustaining

RCM PLAN Plan that describes how the RCM

program will be developed, implemented, and sustained Output: Guidance to RCM manager,
throughout the equipment’s life. analysts, and other team members.
HARDWARE BREAKDOWN End item is
broken down to the level that the analysis will take place

Output: Individual analysis items

FMECA Analysis to determine how the analysis item
can fail, the effects of those failures, and other failure
information.
Output: Information on each reasonably
likely failure mode of the analysis item.
SIGNIFICANT FUNCTION SELECTION
Analysis to determine whether the failure of a function has
significant effects on safety, environmental, operations, or
economics Output: Identity of functions which are
significant enough to warrant further
analysis.
RCM TASK EVALUATION Analysis to determine
what options are available that will deal successfully with
each mode of failure.
Output: PM requirements and
Identification of when action outside of
RCM TASK SELECTION Analysis to determine RCM is warranted.
which solution is the most acceptable.

Output: The preventive task(s) or other

actions that deal most effectively with the
IMPLEMENTATION Things done to apply the failure mode.
output of RCM to the maintenance program.

• NOTE: The Task Evaluation and

FEEDBACK In-service and
Task Selection make up the RCM
operator/maintainer input
Decision Logic. 33
 RCM PROCESS OVERVIEW
SF Selection Logic: RCM Process

A process used to determine whether the failure

of a function has significant effects on safety,
environment, operations, or economics.

Identify functions that are significant enough to

warrant further analysis

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 RCM PROCESS OVERVIEW
Flow Chart: NEED FOR RCM RCM Process
• Initial
Application
• Sustaining

RCM PLAN Plan that describes how the RCM

program will be developed, implemented, and sustained Output: Guidance to RCM manager,
throughout the equipment’s life. analysts, and other team members.
HARDWARE BREAKDOWN End item is
broken down to the level that the analysis will take place

Output: Individual analysis items

FMECA Analysis to determine how the analysis item
can fail, the effects of those failures, and other failure
information.
Output: Information on each reasonably
likely failure mode of the analysis item.
SIGNIFICANT FUNCTION SELECTION
Analysis to determine whether the failure of a function has
significant effects on safety, environment, operations, or
economics Output: Identity of functions which are
significant enough to warrant further
analysis.
RCM TASK EVALUATION Analysis to determine
what options are available that will deal successfully with
each mode of failure.
Output: PM requirements and
Identification of when action outside of
RCM TASK SELECTION Analysis to determine RCM is warranted.
which solution is the most acceptable.

Output: The preventive task(s) or other

actions that deal most effectively with the
IMPLEMENTATION Things done to apply the failure mode.
output of RCM to the maintenance program.

• NOTE: The Task Evaluation and

FEEDBACK In-service and
Task Selection make up the RCM
operator/maintainer input
Decision Logic. 35
 RCM PROCESS OVERVIEW

Task Evaluation: RCM Process

A process used to determine if a PM task can be

developed to reduce, to an acceptable level, the
consequences that will result should the functional
failure occur

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 RCM PROCESS OVERVIEW

Task Evaluation Results: RCM Process

Once a failure mode is subjected to the RCM

Task Evaluation, one of the following outcomes
is possible:

• PM Required
• No PM Required
• Other Action Warranted

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 RCM PROCESS OVERVIEW
Flow Chart: NEED FOR RCM RCM Process
• Initial
Application
• Sustaining

RCM PLAN Plan that describes how the RCM

program will be developed, implemented, and sustained Output: Guidance to RCM manager,
throughout the equipment’s life. analysts, and other team members.
HARDWARE BREAKDOWN End item is
broken down to the level that the analysis will take place

Output: Individual analysis items

FMECA Analysis to determine how the analysis item
can fail, the effects of those failures, and other failure
information.
Output: Information on each reasonably
likely failure mode of the analysis item.
SIGNIFICANT FUNCTION SELECTION
Analysis to determine whether the failure of a function has
significant effects on safety, environment, operations, or
economics Output: Identity of functions which are
significant enough to warrant further
analysis.
RCM TASK EVALUATION Analysis to determine
what options are available that will deal successfully with
each mode of failure.
Output: PM requirements and
Identification of when action outside of
RCM TASK SELECTION Analysis to determine RCM is warranted.
which solution is the most acceptable.

Output: The preventive task(s) or other

actions that deal most effectively with the
IMPLEMENTATION Things done to apply the failure mode.
output of RCM to the maintenance program.

• NOTE: The Task Evaluation and

FEEDBACK In-service and
Task Selection make up the RCM
operator/maintainer input
Decision Logic. 38
 RCM PROCESS OVERVIEW

Task Selection: RCM Process

Process used to determine best solution based on:

• Cost
• Impact on operations

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