CHAPTER 7

Reliability & Maintainability

McGraw-Hill/Irwin Copyright © 2009 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
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.
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?
Availability
• Availability: A measurement of whether a system is ready
to be used immediately
• System is up and running at any given moment
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 Measurement
 Types of Failures

• Functional failure – failure that occurs at the start of

product life due to manufacturing or material detects

• Reliability failure – failure after some period of use

 Types of Reliability

• Inherent reliability – predicted by product design

• Achieved reliability – observed during use

 Reliability Measurement

• Failure rate (l) – number of failures per unit time

• Alternative measures
• Mean time to failure
• Mean time between failures
Reliability Function
• Probability of failure from (0, t)
F(t) = 1 – e-t
• Reliability function
R(t) = 1 – F(t) = e-t
Mean life (q) is average lifetime of all items considered.

For exponential distribution, MTBF is q.

1

•  = MTBF(Mean Time Between Failure) 
• So,
R(t) = e-t/
R(t) = e-t
Reliability function [R(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%

 The Failure Rate
Failure rate is the time rate of change of the probability of failure.
• i.e Failure Rate = Number of Failures/Total Operating Hrs
• Failure rate expressed as failures per hour, failures per million hours,
etc.
• total operating time= (total unit tested*expected operating time)-
(sum of non operating of failed units)
•Since the latter is a function of time, failure rate is also a function of time.

•In terms of failure rate, one can obtain physical information as to which
factor is controlling the failure behavior and/or when it is controlling the
failure behavior.

The failure rate is a basic component of many more complex reliability

calculations. Depending upon the mechanical/electrical design, operating
context, environment and/or maintenance effectiveness, a machine’s failure
rate as a function of time may decline, remain constant, increase linearly or
increase geometrically.
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.
calculate
a. percentage of reliability
b. failure rate
c. MTBF
R(t) = 2 (100%) = 10%
20

 =
2
20,000 - 1,200
= 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 ahours
Component 2 failed after 125 hours
Component 3 failed after 130 hours
Component 4 failed after 325 hours
Component 5 failed after 525 hours
Determine the MTBF

Solution:
Five failures, operating time = 3805 hours

525
325
130
125 5 x 525
75
Solution
 = 5 / 3805 = 0.001314
Example 3
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 MTBF.

Solution
Total operating time = 20.2 + 6.1 + 24.4 + 35.3 + 46.7

= 132.7 hours

 = 5/ 132.7 = 0.03768failure/hour
Therefore;
q = MTBF = 1/  = 26.54 hours

b) What is the system reliability for a mission time of 20

hours?
R = e-t t = 20 hours
R= e-(0.03768)(20)
R = 47.07%
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.
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 System
1
2

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

 When a component does not function, the

product continues to function, using another
component, until all parallel components do not
function.
Consider 3 components in parallel
• Rs = 1 – Fs
• Fa = 1- Ra Fb = 1- Rb Fc = 1- Rc
• Rs = 1 – (1-Ra)(1-Rb)(1-Rc)
• If components A, B and C are identical, then
the reliability, A

Rs = 1 – (1 – R)3
B
• For a system with n identical components,
Rs=1- (1-R)n C
Series-Parallel System
C1
RA RB RC RD
A B D
C2
RC
Convert to equivalent series system

RA RB RD
A B C’ D

RC’ = 1 – (1-RC1)(1-RC2)
Combined series parallel network

Rs =RA [1-(1-RB)(1-RC)]
Rs = RA [RB+RC-RBRC]
Combined series parallel network

A C

B D

Rs = [1-(1-RA)(1-RB)][1-(1-RC)(1-RD)]
Combined series parallel network

A
E

B D

F
C

Rs=[1-(1-RA)(1-RB)(1-RC)][RD] x [RE+RF-(RE)(RF)]
Combined series parallel network
• For combined series-parallel network, first
evaluate the parallel elements to obtain unit
reliability

• Overall system reliability is determined by

finding the product of all series reliability
 Reliability Example1

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%

Example 2
• 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

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

 Components in Parallel
Find the reliability of a system with
Example 3:
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
 Example4

• The reliability block diagram for a system consisting of

seven elements A, B1, B2,C, D, E1, and E2 is below

B1
A
B2

D
C
• R(A) = 0.95 E1 E2
• R(B1) = P(B2) = 0.95
• R(C) = 0.98
• R(D) = 0.90
• R(E1) = P(E2) = 0.90
 Decomposition into Series and Parallel - solution

A B
• step 1

D
C
E1 E2

• where:

• R(B) = R(B1) + R(B2) - R(B1)P(B2)

 Decomposition into Series and Parallel - solution

A B
• step 2

D
C
E

• where:

• R(E) = R(E1)R(E2)
 Decomposition into Series and Parallel - solution

• step 3 A B

C F

• where:

• R(F) = R(D) + R(E) - R(D)R(E)

 Decomposition into Series and Parallel - solution

S1
• step 4

S2

• where:

• R(S1) = R(A)R(B)
• R(S2) = R(C)R(F)
 Decomposition into Series and Parallel - solution

• step 5
S

• where:

• R(S) = R(S1) + R(S2) - R(S1)R(S2)

• 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

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
• "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.
Availability

MTBF
A
MTBF  MTTR MTBM = mean time between
maintenance
MTD = mean down time
MTBF = mean time between failures
MTTR = mean time to repair
Example1 : 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
Maintainability
• Maintainability of a system is the probability of isolating and
repairing a “fault” or failed component 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)
 Maintainability Prediction
• Maintainability predictions are performed in order to assess various
repair and maintenance related metrics.
• The objective of a maintainability prediction is to assess system repair
and maintenance activities in order to minimize system downtime.
• Performing a maintainability prediction analysis begins by defining all
your system components and then determining all their associated
repair and maintenance tasks and activities.
• A significant advantage of using a maintainability prediction
procedure is to evaluate your product while in the design phase in
order to look for potential areas of concern related to downtime and
minimize their impact.
cont’d
All maintainability prediction methods are dependent upon two basic
parameter:
• (a) Failure rates of components at the specific assembly level of
interest.
• (b) Repair time required at the maintenance level involved.