Failure Modes and

Effects Analysis (FMEA)

R. Larson
 Failure Mode and Effects
Analysis (FMEA)
An analysis technique used to identify potential
design or process problems

Method examines causal relationship and

effects of lower level failures on devices or
systems.

Identifies where actions or compensating

provisions are needed to
reduce the likelihood of the problem occurring, and
mitigate the risk, if problem does occur.
 Failure Mode and Effects
Analysis (FMEA)
Application in Industry

FMEA Project teams made up of experts from

engineering, manufacturing, etc assigned to review
the concept, design, process or system

The FMEA team determines the effect of each failure

and identifies single failure points that are critical.

Team may also rank each failure according to failure

effect probability and criticality, to assign importance.
 Varieties of FMEAs.
Conceptual FMEAs

Functional FMEAs

Design FMEAs

Process FMEAs
(e.g. Manufacturing process)

Some Alternative FMEA Approaches:

Review just hardware
Review hardware and function.
Design failure modes effects analysis
(DFMEA)
DFMEA procedure probably the most common
FMEA encountered by MEs/METs

Identifies potential design failures before they occur.

Investigates the potential effects of the failures, and their
cause.
Anticipates when failures might occur, how often.
Estimates severity of effect
Manufacturing Process FMEA
(Process FMEA, or PFMEA)
Recognize and evaluate the potential
failure of a process and its effect
Identify actions which could eliminate or
reduce the occurrence of failure, or
improve likelihood of detection
Documents the process
Track changes to the processes that
have been incorporated to avoid
potential or anticipated failures
Contrast FMEA with Forensics
Forensics what happened (after the fact)
Equipment Failures, Car Crashes
Lots of Engineering, Consulting activity in field

FMEA anticipate what MIGHT occur

Identify possible issues
Prioritize actions, take steps for improvement
Document process
 Why is FMEA / FMECA
Important?

FMEA provides a basis for identifying root failure

causes and developing effective corrective actions
The FMEA identifies reliability/safety of critical
components
An FMEA facilitates investigation of design alternatives
at all design or implementation stages
Provides a foundation for other maintainability, safety,
testability, and logistics analyses
A Pro-active engineering quality method
 An FMEA also
Helps to identify and counter weak points in a design or system

Works in the early conception phase of all kinds of products

(hardware, software) and processes

Is a commonly recognized, structured approach = easy to use even

for a non-specialist

Widely used in industrial, medical, business areas.

Provides DOCUMENTATION of quality improvement actions!

FMEA / FMECA Background and
History
An offshoot of 1949 Military Procedure MIL-P-1629, entitled
Procedures for Performing a Failure Mode, Effects and Criticality Analysis

Used as a reliability evaluation technique to determine the effect of

system and equipment failures.

Failures were classified according to their impact on mission success and personnel/equipment
safety.

Formally developed and applied by NASA in the 1960s to improve

and verify reliability of space program hardware.

The procedures called out in MIL-STD-1629A are the most widely

accepted methods throughout the military and commercial industry.

Similar SAE J1739 is a prevalent FMEA standard in the automotive industry.

Aerospace industry sometimes utilizes Society of Automotive Engineers

Aerospace Recommended Practice ARP5590 .
 Mil-Std-1629A - Related
FMEA Definitions
Compensating Provision: Actions available or that can be
taken to negate or reduce the effect of a failure on a system.
Criticality: a measure of the frequency of occurrence of an effect.
May be based on qualitative judgement or may be based on
failure rate data
Detection Method: The method by which a failure can be
discovered by the system operator under normal system
operation or by a maintenance crew carrying out a specific
diagnostic action.
End Effect: The consequence a failure mode has upon the
operation, function or status at the highest indenture level.
Failure Cause: The physical or chemical processes, design
defects, quality defects, part misapplication or other processes
which are the basic reason for failure or which can initiate the
physical process by which deterioration proceeds to failure. (Past)
Failure Effect: The consequence of a failure mode has upon the
operation, function or status of a system or equipment. (Future)
 FMEA Definitions (cont.)
Failure Mode: The way in which a failure is observed, describes
the way the failure occurs, and its impact on equipment operation.
Indenture Levels: The levels which identify or describe the
relative complexity of an assembly or function.
Local Effect: The consequence a failure mode has on the
operation, function or status of the specific item being analyzed.
Mission Phase Operational Mode: The statement of the
mission phase and mode of operation of the system or equipment
in which the failure occurs.
Next Higher Level Effect: The consequence a failure mode has
on the operation, functions, or status of the items in the next higher
indenture level above the specific item begin analyzed.
Severity: Considers the worst possible consequence of a failure
classified by the degree of injury, property damage, system
damage and mission loss that could occur (ref: Mil-Std-1629A
FMECA severities).
Single Point Failure: The failure of an item which can result in
the failure of the system and is not compensated for by
redundancy or alternative operational procedure.
 A Bottom-to-top FMEA approach
What are the
effects of box
failures on the system?

What are the

effects of
board failures
on the box?

What are the

effects of part
failures on the
board?

What if a part suffers

Basic functional
failure?
A Top-to-Bottom approach
What system-level failures
could occur, and what would
cause them? How to mitigate
effects?

If assembly-level failures could cause the

system problem, what would cause the
assembly failure? How to mitigate effects?

If board-level could cause

sub-assembly problems, what
could cause the board failure?
How to mitigate effects?

If component-level failures
could cause the board-level
problem, what in-turn would
cause that failure? How to
mitigate effects?
Block Diagrams of two approaches:
Bottom-Up vs Top-Down
 Failure case study:
2008 Formula SAE Car
Secondary Effects of Failure
 Contributing Cause: NO
significant testing prior to event
Photo: 2:30 AM on morning of race, California Hotel
Parking Lot, Car still under construction
Implementation into Design
Process Methodology
 1) Define the system
List each subassembly and component
number along with basic functions
Basic functions should match design intent
May list environmental and operational
parameters (temperature, vibration,
pressure, duty cycle, limits of operation) to
clarify design intent
2) Identify and list the potential failures
Try to understand the physics of potential problems
Use Free-body Diagrams, Storyboards, Process-
flow diagrams, etc.
Do some research. Compare with existing or similar
products. Build scale models.
Brainstorm with knowledgeable experts.
Discuss with individuals outside that expertise area
. Analyze via computer or otherwise.
(Notice FEA is not the only method!)
3) List possible causes or mechanisms
of a possible failure
-------
Example Failure Modes
Acoustic noise Fracture Seizure
Binding Intermittent Operation Staining
Buckling Leaks Stall
Burning Material Yield Stripping
Corrosion Misalignment Surge
Cracking Open Circuit Thermal Expansion
Creep Oxidation Unstable Unbalanced
Deflection/Deformation Radiation Damage UV Deterioration
Delamination Resonance Vibrations
Electrical short Ringing Wear
Erosion Sagging Wobble
Fatigue Scoring
4) List the potential effects of
the failure
Noise
Odor
Fire
Erratic performance
Inoperative
Excessive vibration
Fit problems
Durability issues
Other Quality or
functional problems
5) Rate the likelihood of occurrence
(O)

Occurrence is a numerical, subjective

estimate of the LIKELIHOOD that the
cause, if it occurs, will produce the failure
mode and its particular effect.
Occurrence (O)
6) Estimate potential severity (S)

Severity is a numerical, subjective

estimate of severity of the failure

Can also be construed as how severe the

customer or end user will perceive the
failure effect

(Note that these are not always the same!)

Severity (S)
 7) Assess detection (D)
Detection is a numerical, subjective
estimate of the effectiveness of the
controls used to prevent or detect the
cause or failure mode
Detection should occur before the failure
affects the finished product (before
product reaches the customer.)
For this parameter, the assumption is that
the cause has occurred.
Detection (D)
8) Calculate the Risk Priority
Number (RPN)

RPN = (S) * (O) * (D)

where
Severity = (S),
Occurrence = (O),
and Detection = (D).
Risk Priority Number (RPN)
Provides a qualitative numerical
estimate of design risk.
Nonlinear in risk, numbers are relative
for a given evaluation process and
evaluation team.
Review carefully to determine critical
items in your system
Be careful If comparing work of
different teams, different products
9) Feed results back into design
process
Corrective actions should be developed on
a priority basis based on RPN ranking
Responsibility for development assigned
to key individuals
Scheduling of corrective action items key
to product development and improvement
Implementation into Design
Process Methodology
10) Implement corrective action or
Redesign.
Repeat RPN analysis to determine
effectiveness of the actions
FMEA Template for Design and
Development
 Failure Mode Effects and
Criticality Analysis (FMECA)
Another similar technique, extension of FMEA

The FMECA is the result of two steps:

Failure Mode and Effect Analysis (FMEA)
Criticality Analysis (CA) to evaluate the frequency of
occurrence of the problems identified.
FMECA
 CONCEPT FMEA (CFMEA)
The Concept FMEA is used to analyze concepts
in the early stages before hardware is defined
(most often at system and subsystem)
It focuses on potential failure modes associated
with the proposed functions of a concept proposal
This type of FMEA includes the interaction of
multiple systems and interaction between the
elements of a system at the concept stages.
 references
http://www.fmeainfocentre.com/examples/36VbatFMEA.
pdf
http://www.fmeainfocentre.com/examples/FMEAworkshe
et.pdf
http://www.fmeainfocentre.com/examples/xfmea_dfmea.
pdf
Product Design, Kevin Otto and Kristin Wood, Prentice
Hall, 2001
 FMEA ASSIGNMENT

Individually -Review your Conceptual Design

EACH GROUP MEMBER should Identify two
unique, major critical subsystem functions or
components
Perform FMEA on these identified components
Document The Process Used: (You may use form
from this presentation.)
Address any issues found in group meeting
Submit via D2L drop-box by Friday 11/2/2012