EQUIPMENT RELIABILITY

 Electronic equipment is expected to perform its required or intended functions with full
efficiency.
 It is supposed to perform under the conditions for which it is specially designed.
 The Significance of repair and maintenance of electronic equipment are: -
1. To maintain the equipment in good working conditions
2. To avoid equipment breakdown
3. Maintenance supports and increases the effective lifetime of the equipment

RELIABILITY
 An equipment is reliable (or dependable) - if it performs it’s intended or required function
efficiently under the specified conditions.

Definition
 Reliability of an equipment (or component) – is the ability of the equipment to perform its
required function, without failure for given time and under specified conditions.
 Reliability - is the probability that an equipment will perform its function adequately for the
desired period of time when operated according to specified conditions.
 Reliability of any equipment is expressed in terms of percentage.

Note
 A reliability figure is predicted by specifying: -
 The operating time
 The operating conditions
 Equipment – is an item, component, instrument or system.
 The specified conditions - are the actual working conditions where the equipment is
expected to work

 For example
Equipment Specified conditions (Working conditions)
 An equipment working on satellite  It is expected to perform under low
pressure and temperature
 An equipment working in life support  It is expected to work continuously for
systems in hospital long time without any failure

Categories of Items/Equipment
 There are two main categories of equipment: -
1. Repairable equipment: -
 These are the equipment which can be repaired once they fail.
 They resume their required function once they are fixed
2. Non-Repairable items: -
 These are equipment which cannot be fixed once they fail.
 They are generally replaced.

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 Failure
 Failure – is the termination of the ability of an item to perform its required function.

Equipment Failure
 Failure of an equipment occurs when: -
i. When the equipment is no longer capable of performing its required function.
ii. Due to the inability of an equipment to work continuously for the required time or to
work under the actual working conditions.’
iii. An equipment working for some time, but failing before time
iv. An equipment failing to work in actual working conditions but properly working in the
laboratory
v. Deviation of an equipment from its proper parameters of working

Types of Equipment Failures

 Failure is defined (categorised) depending on:-
1. The degree of failure – is the item just out of specification or has it broken down
completely?
2. The cause of failure – misuse or inherently weak
3. The rate or time of failure – sudden or gradual

1. The Degrees of Failure

 These are: -
i. Partial Failure
 Partial failure – these are failures resulting from deviations in characteristic(s) or
parameter(s) beyond the specified limits, but not as to cause complete lack of the required
function.
 Partial failure – means that some of its parameters have deviated from their specified values,
or some of the functions have altogether stopped, but others are working properly.
 Example: - the failing of sound section of a television set with pictures ok.

ii. Complete Failure – failures resulting from deviations in characteristic(s) beyond the
specified limits such as to cause complete lack of the required function.
 Complete Failure – means that the equipment has gone faulty in totality.
 Example: - a TV set without both pictures and sound.

2. Causes Of Failure
 These are: -
i. Misuse Failure – failures attributable to the application of stress beyond the stated
capabilities of the equipment.
ii. Inherent Weakness Failure – failures attributable to weakness inherent in the equipment
itself when subjected to stresses within stated capabilities of the equipment.

3. Time Of Failure
 These are: -
i. Sudden Failure – failures that could not be anticipated by prior examination.

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  Sudden Failure – is the sudden or unexpected failure of the equipment.
 Sudden failures occur when there is a change in working of an equipment all at once.

ii. Gradual Failure – failures that could be anticipated by prior examination.

 Gradual Failure – occurs when the working of an equipment is slowly deteriorating with
time.
 It is also known as slow failure.
 They usually occur due to aging of the equipment
 Example: -
 The day to day decline of sound in a radio.
 The leakage of charge in capacitor

4. Combinations of Failure
 These are: -
i. Catastrophic failure – failures that are both sudden and complete
ii. Degradation failure – failures that are both gradual and partial

Causes of Failures
 There are many reasons due to which electronic equipment can fail.
 The failure can occur due to any one or various combinations of these reasons.
 Knowing the failures of electronic equipment leads to taking precautionary measures.
 Taking precautionary measures leads to: -
i. Increased equipment reliability
ii. Decreased failures

 The various causes of equipment failure are: -

1. Improper circuit design
2. Manufacturing deficiencies
3. Improper or negligent handling & operation of equipment
4. Environmental factors

1. Improper Circuit Design

 This is due to: -
i. The circuit design of the equipment may be deficient
 The voltage and current ratings of components may be exceeded leading to excessive
heat generation due to excess current.
 Current rating of equipment should never be exceeded.

ii. Lack of heat sinks and cooling arrangement for heat sensitive components
iii. Failure to consider the working conditions of the end user of the equipment when designing
the circuit and its layout- e.g. high temperatures, humid, etc.

2. Manufacturing Deficiencies
 These failures are caused due to deficiencies during the manufacturing stage of the
equipment.
 These include: -

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 i. Using inferior quality of components & the other materials e.g. printed circuit boards,
switches, etc.
ii. The mounting and soldering of the components - may be defective
iii. Low quality materials – these may not withstand vibrations and mechanical stresses which
the equipment may be subjected to during transportation and working.

3. Improper Or Negligent Handling & Operation Of Equipment

 Negligent handling and use of equipment can cause failure.
 This responsibility of failure lies with the user who does not use the equipment carefully and
cautiously.
 This can be attributed to: -
 Low awareness of the user – leading to faulty operation of the equipment
 Application of over-voltage
 Lack of proper maintenance policy
 Replacing faulty components with substandard quality components.

4. Environmental Factors/Climatical Factors

 These climatic conditions include: - temperature, pressure, humidity, moisture, dust, etc.

DESIGN LIFE:
 Design life - is the intended period of use of a component/system which is expected to be
failure free.

Design for Reliability (DfR)

 The reliability of a product is strongly influenced by decisions made during the design
process.
 Reliability occurs at the point of decision.
 Product reliability takes shape each time
 A decision is made
 A component is elected,
 A material is chosen
 A product is used.

 Design for Reliability, DfR - is the process of making good decisions across the organization
concerning reliability.

Design for Reliability Process

 The figure below outlines the basic stages or elements of a product generation process.

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 The six stages span a typical product lifecycle from concept till retirement.
 The process steps each include a slightly different focus and set of tools.

1. Identify – Goals, Requirements, Specifications, Expectations

 The decision during the early stages of product development set the framework of goals,
objectives, requirements, and specifications.
 These documents guide the decision making for the remainder of the process.

2. Design – Creating a Draft Solution

 The decisions during the design and development stages involve: -
i. Material selection
ii. Component selection
iii. Industrial design
iv. Human factors design (user interface and interactions)
v. Electrical and Mechanical drawings
vi. Software/Firmware development
 The decision bound the potential future reliability performance.

3. Analyze – Examine the Solution

 During the design process, there may be outstanding questions to address.
 Such as: -
 An uncertainty concerning the degradation of a coating over time, or
 The capability of the desired component vendor to meet tolerance requirements.

 The focus is to explore, discover, and reveal the design weaknesses in order to allow design
changes to improve the product robustness.
 Another part of this step is to check and refine the understanding of the customer
environment and use conditions.

4. Verify – Checking the Solution against the Specifications

 This step starts the examination of the question: Is the design meeting the specifications?
 If all is well executed to this stage the design and analyze steps created and refined a product
that meets the set of specifications created during the first step of the process.
 Products are complex.
 The verify step often finds additional elements of the design requiring improvement.

5. Validate – Checking the Solution with the Customer

 The decision during this step requires customers.
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 Does the product meet customer expectations?
 This is one way to view validation, another is a detailed refinement of the verification
process.
 Either way, the intent at this point is to make sure the design and process to create the
product based on the design results in products that perform as the customer expects.

6. Control – Monitoring and Improving

 The decisions during this step focus on supplier and production stability and capability.
 Plus, the information coming back from customer provides a means to identify potential
design or process improvement projects.
 The work in this step begins as the team establishes the supply and production processes.
 It takes shape beginning during the design step and becomes refined as data and information
become available.

Factors Affecting Equipment Reliability

 The various stages in the life of an equipment can be separated into four parts.

 These are: -
1. Design and development
2. Production
3. Storage and transport
4. Operation

Reliability Curve or Bath Tub Curve

 Reliability curve - depicts the chances of failure of a typical equipment with respect to time.

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 It is also known as: -
 Failure rate v/s time curve
 Bath –tub curve – due to its shape like that of a bath tub.

 Bathtub curve - describes the cost of equipment over its lifespan i.e. from commissioning to
winding up.

The figure blow shows a Reliability curve

 The Reliability curve is divided into three sections I, II and III as shown above.
1. Section I: - Early failures time
2. Section II: - normal working or useful time
3. Section III: -wear-cut failures time

1. Section I: - Early Failures Time

 This section corresponds to early failures of the equipment.
 These failures are due to improper design of manufacturing defects.
 The chances of failure during this time are high, but go on decreasing sharply.
 This section has high failure rate.
 This portion is also called: -
 Decreasing failure rate section - The Failure Rate is decreasing
 Infant mortality rate (Period)
 Early Life of a Product

 The equipment is new or in infant stage.

Avoiding Early Failures

 These failures can be avoided by ‘burn-in’ the equipment.
 This means to run the equipment continuously without break under increased temperature for
a fixed time in laboratory.

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 This working of the equipment under stress conditions is equivalent to working of the same
equipment for long duration of time under normal working conditions.
 Thus, the burn - in eliminates the duration of these early failures.
 When the burn-in has been done, the chances of early failure during actual working have
already been omitted.
 The equipment is ready now for normal working.

2. Section II: - Normal Working or Useful Time

 This section corresponds to normal working time of the equipment.
 This is the actual useful life with less chances of failure or high reliability as seen from the
reliability curve.
 During this time, the failure rate remains almost constant.
 The failures occurring during this time are usually due to: -
i. Improper use or negligence on the part of the user
ii. Severe or stressful working conditions.
 For example
 An equipment failing due to over-voltage application
 Over-heating of equipment due to long use

 This time duration is the most useful life time of the equipment with less trouble.
 This section is also known as: -
 Mid-Life of a Product
 Constant Failure Rate (CFR) section
 The Intrinsic Failure Period or
 The Stable Failure Period
 Random failures

Extending the Useful Time of an Equipment

 This time can be extended by: -
i. Careful use of the equipment on part of the user and
ii. Good maintenance of the equipment

3. Section III: -Wear-Cut Failures Time

 This section corresponds to wear out time of the equipment.
 The components have aged after working through long life period.
 This aging of components affects the working of equipment.
 Due to aging of components, degradation in their working starts, and the performance of the
equipment starts deteriorating.
 This results in gradual failures in the equipment.
 The failure chances of the equipment goes on increasing rapidly as seen from the reliability
curve.
 This part of the curve is also called: -
i. Increasing failure rate
ii. Late Life of the Product
iii. Wear-out Failure Period - failure rate is increasing.
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 iv.
 This is the only time of the equipment lifetime when the probability of failures goes on
increasing.
 The equipment demands: -
i. More and more repair,
ii. More and more replacement of the componets

Delaying Wear-Out Period of an Equipment

 The on-set of this wear-out period can be delayed by identifying the degrading components
and replacing them with good quality ones.
 This eliminates the chances of complete failure of the equipment and it continues to work
fairly.

Note
 By this time, there are new equipment in the market based on new and advanced technology,
which the user may intend to buy.
 The user is most likely going to dispose-off his old equipment and buy new and advanced
one with new and enhanced features.

Reliability and Product Life Cycle

Phase (or stage)
Conceptual preliminary
design
Detailed design, development
and prototyping
Production and manufacture
Product use and support
Reliability activities
 Specification
 Allocation
 Design methods
 Design methods
 Failure analysis
 Growth testing
 Safety analysis
 Acceptance testing
 Quality control
 Burn – in screening
 Preventive maintenance
 Predictive maintenance
 Modifications
 Parts replacement

Improving Reliability of an Equipment

 These the ways to increase the reliability and extend the lifetime of an equipment.
 These ways include: -

1. Burn –In Process –

 When equipment reaches the end user, it has already passed through the high failure rate
period.
 The end user can enjoy high reliability II portion of the equipment lifetime.
2. Train the equipment users (or employees)
 The staff should also be able to identify potential problems before they happen.
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  Train employees on critical equipment to ensure they operate efficiently for more years.
3. Use high-quality lubricants
 High-quality oil may cost more, but it will give the equipment a long run by keeping it
running efficiently and for longer.
4. Invest in equipment redundancy
 There is need for a backup, so that operations can at least partly continue if a particular
component fails.
 Equipment require redundancy to eliminate the potential for downtime due to such
failure.
5. Conduct consistent cleaning and maintenance
 There should be a scheduled, documented cleaning and maintenance program in place.
 There should be a formal maintenance program and properly train employees to conduct
these maintenance tasks regularly.
 Proper maintenance program benefits the equipment by: -
i. Minimizing wear and tear on machines
ii. Saving you money on repair and replacement parts
iii. Extending the overall life of your equipment
6. Use automation solutions
 Investing in automation can increase your equipment’s reliability.
 Automation helps in monitoring and controlling the working of the equipment.

Cost of Reliability
 The actual cost of ownership of an equipment is made up of: -
i. The capital cost (the purchase price) and
ii. The cost of operation and maintenance.
 The cost of operation and maintenance over a number of years often exceeds the capital cost.
 . The cost of operation and maintenance is dependent upon reliability of the equipment.
Breakdown of costs
 As far as the manufacturer is concerned, as reliability is improved: -
i. Design and production costs increases while
ii. The costs of repairs and free replacement under guarantee fall.
 Adding the two graphs together, the general shape of total manufacturing cost against
reliability is shown below.

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Note
 It has a minimum cost point.
 A firm that produces poor reliability products may be forced out of business because of the
costs involved in providing an overlarge service organisation.
 Using the above graph as a basis for customer purchase price, the graph of total ownership
costs against reliability can be obtained.

 This is the sum of the purchase price and maintenance costs.

 The maintenance costs will naturally fall as reliability improves.
 The total ownership cost graph has a minimum point.
 The customer will be seeking a better reliability for the price he is prepared to pay than the
manufacturer wishes to provide.
 If the equipment is made to a specified order, some compromise must be made towards
reliability.
 If the equipment is offered for sale at a fixed price, then it is up to the customer to attempt
some evaluation of their total costs.
 The minimum-cost/optimum-reliability point is difficult to realise in practice because it
involves a prediction of how the various cost factors with reliability are actually going to
vary.

Comparison of reliability of equipment with preventive maintenance and without

preventive maintenance.

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 It is observed that the overall equipment reliability is kept high with the help of regular
preventive maintenance.

Reliability
 Reliability - is defined as the probability that an item will perform a required function
without failure for a stated period of time.

Example 1
 Given that there are 50 components operated for 1000 hrs in a test and two of them
failed, find
i. The probability of failure
ii. The probability of success

Solution
 The probability of failure of the component in 1000 hrs is:

 And the probability of success for the component in 1000hrs is:

It should be noted that: -

 The Reliability - is the probability of no failure within a given operating period.
 If we want to generalize what we just did in the above example

Where P(s) is the Reliability.

Note
An equipment with reliability of 80 % means: -
 While operating under specified conditions, its chances of performing the intended function
without failing is 80 %, when it is operated for the given time.
 On the other hand, the chances of failure for the equipment is 20 % when operated within the
limits of time and working conditions.
Note
 Reliability is expressed in percentage with: -
i. The limits of time and
ii. The working conditions.
 Reliability clarifies the chances of failure.

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Example 2
Given the probabilities below, calculate the expected breakdown cost.
Number of Breakdowns Daily Frequency
0 3
1 2
2 2
3 3

Assume a cost of $10 per breakdown.

Solution

Number of Breakdowns Daily Frequency Probability

0 3 0.3
1 2 0.2
2 2 0.2
3 3 0.3

Expected number of breakdowns = (0)(0.3) + (1)(0.2) + (2)(0.2) + (3)(0.3)

= 0 + 0.2 + 0.4 + 0.9
= 1.5 breakdowns/day
Expected breakdown cost = Expected number of breakdowns * Cost per breakdown
= 1.5 * $10
= $15/day

RELIABILITY PARAMETERS
 The reliability of any equipment can be foretold by knowing various parameters of reliability.
 These parameters are: -
1. Failure Rate (FR)
2. Mean Time Between Failures (MTBF)
3. Mean Time To Fail (MTTF)
4. Mean Time To Repair (MTTR)
5. Availability

Check for part 2

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