Fault Tree Analysis

• Why do we need fault tree analysis?

• What is it?
• Why do we use it?
• Why this matters to you
• How it works
• Bridgestone/Firestone
• Brief exercise
• Summary
 What Is Fault Tree Analysis?
• A common tool using graphics and statistics
to analyze an event and predict how and
how often it will fail
• Used in engineering and business to aid
process and system development
 Why Do We Use Fault Tree
Analysis?
• Very easy to understand
• Effective way to diagram problems in a
system
• Helps to organize possible causes of a
problem in the system
Example Of Fault Tree
 Is Fault Tree A Tool For You?
• Does your company have problems in your
system or process flow?
• Does your system work under the worst
case scenario?
• Do external forces effect your system?
 Is Fault Tree A Tool For You?

Yes!!
 How Does It Work?
• Uses a variety of gates and events to explain
the system
• Uses a top-down approach to its logic
• End result is at the top of the tree and what
leads to that result follows under it
And Gate
• One of main gates
used
• The output above will
occur if the two events
below both occur
Or Gate
• The second main gate
used
• The output above will
occur if either of one
or more events
happens below
 Three Main Events
• Primary Event
• Intermediate Event
• Expanded Event
 Primary Events
• Made up of basic, undeveloped, and
external events
• A time in the event where the process or
system might fail
 Basic Event
• Nothing is leading up to the event
• Can be like a machine breaking
unexpectedly
• A circle is used to represent the event in the
fault tree
 Undeveloped Event
• Events that don’t have a major effect on the
system
• Also events that there is not enough
information about
• Represented by a diamond in the fault tree
 External Event
• Expected to happen
• Not considered a fault
• A house shape in a fault tree
 Intermediate Event
• A combination of multiple different faults
• Shown by rectangles in the fault tree
• Sometimes linked by and/or gates
 Expanded Event
• Complex event that needs another fault tree
to explain
• The fault tree for the expanded event is not
directly shown in current fault tree
• Shown by a triangle on the fault tree
 Bridgestone Firestone tires
• Faulty tires on S.U.V.’s caused numerous
accidents
• Officially 148 deaths but estimates up to
250
• Mostly involved with the Ford Explorer
 Results Of Inquiry
• Four events that led to faulty tires
• Design problem in tread
• Faulty process in Decatur, Illinois
• Problem with Ford Explorer
• Customers don’t take proper care of tires
 Values Of Fault Tree For
Firestone
• Preventing the error in the first place
• After the error in the tire was found, finding
all the things that caused it
• Preventing similar problems from
happening again
The New Firestone
• Firestone advertise
that they are a changed
company
• Tries to get back old
customers
 Test Yourself
• What are the two major kinds of gates?
• What are the three main events?
• A basic event is represented by a what?
• True or False, an undeveloped event has a
major impact on the system?
 Test Yourself
• What are the two major kinds of gates? And/Or
gates
• What are the three main events? Primary,
Independent, and Undeveloped
• A basic event is represented by a what? Circle
• True or False, an undeveloped event has a major
impact on the system? False
 Summary Of Fault Tree Analysis

• An important tool
• Simple to use
• Graphics make it easy to understand
• Each event is displayed by a unique shape
• Helps to prevent and correct errors in the
system