Reliability Block Diagram

Reliability Block Diagram

• A Reliability Block Diagram is a method of modeling how components
and sub-system failures combine to cause a system failure.
• Reliability block diagrams may be analyzed to predict the availability of a
system and determine the critical components from a reliability viewpoint.
• RBD is also known as a dependence diagram (DD)
• RBD permits the entire team to consider tradeoffs and the impact of
decisions on system reliability and balance priorities across various
elements of a system.
• Not every element of a system has to achieve high-reliability performance
when not effectively making any difference to the overall system
reliability.
• Focus improvement activities on the elements that actually impact the
system’s ability to achieve the goal.
 Reliability Block Diagram
• Reliability block diagram is a graphical representation of the components
of the system and how they are reliability-wise related (connected).
• RBD may differ from how the components are physically connected.
Hydrocracker Unit (HCU)

Functional Flowchart
 Reliability Block Diagram

• RBDs are constructed out of blocks that are connected with direction
lines that represent the reliability relationship between the blocks.
• A block (represented by a rectangle) represent the component,
subsystem or assembly at its chosen black box level.
• Each block in a particular RBD might be represented by its own reliability
block diagram, depending on the level of detail in question.
Hydrocracker Unit (HCU)
 Reliability Block Diagram
• RBD could continue breakdown through many levels of detail, all the way
down to the level of the most basic components (e.g., fasteners).
• The level of granularity or detail that one chooses should be based on
both the availability of data and on the lowest actionable item concept.
Hydrocracker Unit (HCU)
Reliability Block Diagram
Hydrocracker Unit (HCU)
Reliability Block Diagram
Hydrocracker Unit (HCU)
 Reliability Block Diagram
• Series System
• Systems are arranged serially.

1 2 3 n

• The failure of any one element will cause the system will not work.
• The reliability of the system is the probability that unit A succeeds and unit B succeeds
and all of the other units in the system succeed, which can be formulated:

where:
𝑅 is the reliability of the system
𝑋 is the event of unit being operational
𝑃 𝑋 is probability that unit is operational
 Reliability Block Diagram
• Series System
• Systems are arranged serially.

1 2 3 n

• In the case of independent components, equation above becomes:

• Or, in terms of individual component reliability:

• The system reliability is smaller that the smallest component reliability.

 Reliability Block Diagram
• Series System
• System consists 3 component that are arranged serially.

1 2 3

• The reliability of each component is 0.9.

• Determine the reliability of the system.

0.729
 Reliability Block Diagram
• Parallel Systems
• Systems are arranged in a simple parallel
A
• At least one of the units must succeed for the system to succeed.
• Units in parallel can be called redundant units B
• Redundancy is a very important aspect of system design and
reliability in that adding redundancy is one of several methods of C
improving system reliability.
• It is widely used in the aerospace industry and generally used in
mission critical systems. n
 Reliability Block Diagram
• Parallel Systems
• The probability of failure, or unreliability, for a system with A
statistically independent parallel components is the probability
B
that unit 1 fails, unit 2 fails and all of the other units in the system fail.
• So in a parallel system, all units must fail for the system to fail. C
• The unreliability of the system is then given by:

where:
𝑄 is the unreliability of the system
𝑋 is the event of failure of unit
𝑃 𝑋 is the probability of failure of unit
 Reliability Block Diagram
• Parallel Systems

A
• In the case of independent components, it becomes:
B

C
• The reliability of the parallel system is then given by:

n
• The system reliability is higher that the highest component reliability.
 Reliability Block Diagram
• Parallel Systems
• System consists 3 component that are arranged parallel.
A
• The reliability of each component is 0.9.
• Determine the reliability of the system. B

C
 Reliability Block Diagram
• Parallel Systems – high level and low level
• There are two levels of redundancy

A B A B

A B A B

low level high level

• Low-level redundancy (component/sub-system level), in which each component
comprising the system may have one or more parallel components.
• High-level redundancy (system level), the entire system may be placed in parallel with
one or more identical systems.
• For a given reliability value of components (𝑅 = 𝑅 = 0.9), low-level redundancy
provides a higher system reliability (0.98) than high-level redundancy (0.96).
 Reliability Block Diagram
• k out of n system
• The elements are arranged in parallel, where one or more elements must function for
the system to work.
• If there are, n elements in parallel, the system may require k elements as a minimum to
operate (k must be less than or equal to n).
• When k equals n, it is a series system, as all have to work.
• When k = 1 and n is greater than 1 than it is a simple parallel system.
• When k = 2 and n= 4, the system operates if any two of the four elements are working.
• Thus we get some benefit of the parallel structure, yet it is not as expensive or reliable
as a simple redundancy system.

B 2/3

C
 Reliability Block Diagram
• k out of n system
• Approach is similar to the binomial distribution reliability function in construction.
• The first term with factorials determines the number of ways the n units could combine
in working and not working elements.
• The second term is the probability of the product successfully working, for the k
minimum elements for successful operation of the system.
• The later term is the probability of failure for the n-k remaining units.
 Reliability Block Diagram
• k out of n system
• The autonomous parking system of a car contains three computers and sensor set to
determine the appropriate parking maneuver for a given situation.
• The computers compare results of each computer before attempting maneuver.
• When two computers agree, and one does not, the car parks with the plan created
by the two computers, and warns the driving that maintenance is required for the
faulty computer.
• Given that reliability of each computer is 0.9, determine the reliability of the system.
A 𝑛!
𝑅 = ×𝑅 × 1−𝑅
𝑖! × 𝑛 − 𝑖 !
B 2/3
3!
C 𝑅 = × (0.9) × 1 − 0.9
𝑖! × 3 − 𝑖 !
! !
𝑅 = !× !
× (0.9) × 1 − 0.9 + !× !
× (0.9) × 1 − 0.9 = 0.24 + 0.73 = 0.97
 RBD Complex Systems
• In many cases, it is not easy to recognize which components are in series
and which are in parallel in a complex system.
• The network shown bellow is a good example of such a complex system.
B D

A C C

D B

• The system in the figure above cannot be broken down into a group of
series and parallel systems due to the fact that component C has two
paths leading away from it, whereas B and D have only one.
 RBD Complex Systems
• Several methods exist for obtaining the reliability of a complex system:
A. The decomposition method
B. The event space method
C. The path-tracing method
 RBD Complex Systems
A. The decomposition method
• The decomposition method is an application of the law of total
probability.
• It involves choosing a "key" component and then calculating the
reliability of the system twice: once as if the key component failed (R=0)
and once as if the key component succeeded (R=1).
• These two probabilities are then combined to obtain the reliability of the
system, since at any given time the key component will be failed or
operating.
• Using probability theory, the equation is:
 RBD Complex Systems
B. The event space method
• The event space method is an application of the mutually exclusive
events axiom.
• All mutually exclusive events are determined and those that result in
system success are considered.
• The reliability of the system is simply the probability of the union of all
mutually exclusive events that yield a system success.
• Similarly, the unreliability is the probability of the union of all mutually
exclusive events that yield a system failure.
 RBD Complex Systems
C. The path-tracing method
• With the path-tracing method, every path from a starting point to an ending
point is considered.
• Since system success involves having at least one path available from one end
of the RBD to the other, as long as at least one path from the beginning to the
end of the path is available, then the system has not failed.
• It could consider
the RBD to be a
plumbing schematic.
 RBD Complex Systems
C. The path-tracing method
• If a component in the system fails, the "water" can no longer flow through it.
• As long as there is at least one path for the "water" to flow from the start to the
end of the system, the system is successful.
• This method involves identifying all of the paths the "water" could take and
calculating the reliability of the path based on the components that lie along
that path.
• The reliability of the system is simply the probability of the union of these paths.
• In order to maintain consistency of the analysis, starting and ending blocks for
the system must be defined.
 RBD Complex Systems
• Consider the following system:

1 2

• A is the event of Unit 1 success. • Reliability of Unit 1 is 0.8

• B is the event of Unit 2 success. • Reliability of Unit 2 is 0.8
• C is the event of Unit 3 success. • Reliability of Unit 3 is 0.9
• S is the event of system success

Determine reliability of system by using:

A. The decomposition method
B. The event space method
C. The path-tracing method
 RBD Complex Systems
• Consider the following system:

1 2 • A is the event of Unit 1 success. • Reliability of Unit 1 and

• B is the event of Unit 2 success. Unit 2 is 0.8
• C is the event of Unit 3 success. • Reliability of Unit 3 is 0.9
3 • S is the event of system success Determine reliability of system

• The decomposition method

• Selecting Unit 3 as the key component, the system reliability is:

• If Unit 3 survives, then: • If Unit 3 fails, then the system is reduced to:
𝑃 𝑆𝐶 =1 1 2
• That is, since Unit 3 represents half of the parallel
section of the system, then as long as it is • Then:
operating, the entire system operates. 𝑃 𝑆 𝐶̅ = 𝑅 𝑅
• Reliability of the system is given by:
𝑅 = 1 𝑃 𝐶 + 𝑅 𝑅 𝑃 𝐶̅ = 𝑅 + 𝑅 𝑅 1−𝑅 =𝑅 +𝑅 𝑅 −𝑅 𝑅 𝑅
• Reliability of the system is then = 0.9 + (0.8 x 0.8) – (0.8 x 0.8 x 0.9) = 0.964
 RBD Complex Systems
• Consider the following system:

1 2 • A is the event of Unit 1 success. • Reliability of Unit 1 and

• B is the event of Unit 2 success. Unit 2 is 0.8
• C is the event of Unit 3 success. • Reliability of Unit 3 is 0.9
3 • S is the event of system success Determine reliability of system

• The event space method

• The mutually exclusive system events are: • Thus the probability of failure of the system is:
• 𝑋1 = 𝐴𝐵𝐶, all unit succeed 𝑃 = 𝑃 𝑥6 ∪ 𝑥7 ∪ 𝑥8
• 𝑋2 = 𝐴̅𝐵𝐶, only unit 1 fails • Since events 𝑋6, 𝑋7 and 𝑋8 are mutually exclusive
• 𝑋3 = 𝐴𝐵𝐶, only unit 2 fails 𝑃 = 𝑃 𝑥6 + 𝑃 𝑥7 + 𝑃 𝑥8
• 𝑋4 = 𝐴𝐵𝐶̅ , only unit 3 fails 𝑃 𝑥6 = 𝑃 𝐴̅𝐵𝐶̅ = 1 − 𝑅 𝑅 1 − 𝑅
• 𝑋5 = 𝐴𝐵𝐶, unit 1 and 2 fail 𝑃 𝑥7 = 𝑃 𝐴𝐵𝐶 = 𝑅 1 − 𝑅 1 − 𝑅
• 𝑋6 = 𝐴̅𝐵𝐶̅ , unit 1 and 3 fail 𝑃 𝑥8 = 𝑃 𝐴𝐵𝐶 = 1 − 𝑅 1 − 𝑅 1 − 𝑅
• 𝑋7 = 𝐴𝐵𝐶, unit 2 and 3 fail • Combining terms yields:
• 𝑋8 = 𝐴𝐵𝐶, all units fail 𝑃 =1−𝑅 −𝑅 𝑅 +𝑅 𝑅 𝑅
• Events 𝑋6, 𝑋7 and 𝑋8 result in system failure • Reliability of the system is given by:
𝑅 = 0.9 + (0.8 x 0.8) – (0.8 x 0.8 x 0.9) = 0.964 𝑅 =1− 𝑃 =𝑅 +𝑅 𝑅 −𝑅 𝑅 𝑅
 RBD Complex Systems
• Consider the following system:

1 2 • A is the event of Unit 1 success. • Reliability of Unit 1 and

• B is the event of Unit 2 success. Unit 2 is 0.8
• C is the event of Unit 3 success. • Reliability of Unit 3 is 0.9
3 • S is the event of system success Determine reliability of system

• The path-tracing method

• The paths for this system are:
x1 = 1, 2 and 𝑥2 = 3
• The probability of success of the system is given by:
𝑃 𝑥1 ∪ 𝑥2 = 𝑃 𝑥1 + 𝑃 𝑥2 − 𝑃 𝑥1 ∩ 𝑥2
𝑃 𝑥1 ∪ 𝑥2 = 𝑃 1, 2 + 𝑃 3 − 𝑃 1, 2, 3
• Or
𝑅 = 𝑅 𝑅 +𝑅 −𝑅 𝑅 𝑅

Reliability of the system is then = (0.8 x 0.8) + 0.9 – (0.8 x 0.8 x 0.9) = 0.964
 Reliability Block Diagram
• Duty Cycle
• Components of a system may not operate continuously during a system's mission or
may be subjected to loads greater or lesser than the rated loads during system
operation.
• To model this, a factor called the Duty Cycle (𝑑 ) is used.
• The duty cycle may also be used to account for changes in environmental stress, such
as temperature changes, that may effect the operation of a component.
• The duty cycle is a positive value, with a default value of 1 representing continuous
operation at rated load, and any values other than 1 representing other load values
with respect to the rated load value (or total operating time).
• A duty cycle value:
• higher than 1 indicates a load in excess of the rated value.
• lower than 1 indicates that the component is operating at a load lower than the
rated load or not operating continuously during the system's mission.
• For instance, a duty cycle of 0.5 may be used for a component that operates only half
of the time during the system's mission.
 Reliability Block Diagram
• Duty Cycle
• The reliability metrics for a component with a duty cycle are calculated as follows:

where:
𝑑 is the duty cycle during a particular mission of the component
𝑡 is the mission time
𝑡′ is the accumulated age
• The reliability equation for component is:
 Reliability Block Diagram
• Duty Cycle
• Consider a computer system with three components: a processor, a hard drive and a
CD drive in series.
• All three components follow a Weibull failure distribution, processor (β = 1.5, η = 5000),
hard drive (β = 2.5, η = 3000), and CD drive (β = 2.0, η = 4000).
• Determine the reliability of the computer system after one year (365 days) of
operation, assuming that the CD drive is used only 30% of the time.
.

𝑅 365 = 𝑒 = 0.9805 . × .

. 𝑅 365 = 𝑒 = 0.9993
𝑅 365 = 𝑒 = 0.9948

• The reliability of the computer system after 365 days of operation is:
 Reliability Block Diagram
• Load Sharing
• In most cases, independence is assumed across the components within the system
(the failure of component A does not affect the failure of component B).
• However, if a system consists of components that are sharing a load, then the
assumption of independence no longer holds true.
• If one component fails, then the component(s)
that are still operating will have to assume the
failed unit's portion of the load.
• Therefore, the reliabilities of the surviving unit(s)
will change.
• Calculating the system reliability is no longer an
easy proposition.
• In the case of load sharing components, the change of the failure distributions of the
surviving components must be known in order to
determine the system's reliability.
 Reliability Block Diagram
• Load Sharing
1 • Assume that the units must supply an output and that if both
units are operational, each unit is to supply 50% of total output.
2 • If one of the units fails, then the surviving unit supplies 100%.

• Furthermore, assume that having to supply the entire load has a negative impact
on the reliability characteristics of the surviving unit.
• Since the reliability characteristics of the unit change based on the load then a
method that can model the effect of the load on life should be used:
• a life distribution along with a life-stress relationship for each component
• the concept of acceleration factors
• For the above load sharing system, the reliability of each component is a function
of time and load.
 Reliability Block Diagram
• Load Sharing
• For Unit 1, the reliability and the probability density function are:
1 𝑅 𝑡, 𝑅 and 𝑓 𝑡, 𝑆
where 𝑆 is the load shared by Unit 1 at time 𝑡 and the total
2
load of the system is S = 𝑆 + 𝑆 .
• At the beginning, both units are working.
• Assume that Unit 1 fails at time x and
Unit 2 takes over the entire load.
• The reliability for Unit 2 at time x is:
𝑅 𝑥, 𝑆 = 𝑅 𝑡 ,𝑆
𝑆
𝑡 = 𝑥
𝑆
where 𝑡 is the equivalent time for Unit 2
at time x if it is operated with load S.
 Reliability Block Diagram
• Load Sharing
1

• The system reliability at time t is:

𝑅 𝑡 = 𝑅 𝑡, 𝑆 𝑅 𝑡, 𝑆 + 𝑓 𝑥, 𝑆 𝑅 𝑡 + 𝑡 − 𝑥 , 𝑆 𝑑𝑥 + 𝑓 𝑥, 𝑆 𝑅 𝑡 + 𝑡 − 𝑥 , 𝑆 𝑑𝑥

• The reliability function for a component at a given load is calculated as:

• From the above equation, it can be seen that the concept used in the calculation for
load sharing is the same as the concept used in the calculation for duty cycle.
 Reliability Block Diagram
• Load Sharing
• Each unit is to supply 50% of total output, and if one of the units
1 fails, then the surviving unit supplies 100%.
• The failure rate for a unit in normal mode is 0.0002 failures per hour,
2 but if one unit has to carry the full load alone, the failure rate
increases to 0.0009 failures per hour.
• What is the reliability of the system over a 168-hour week of operation?

𝑅 𝑡 = 𝑅 𝑡, 𝑆 𝑅 𝑡, 𝑆 + 𝑓 𝑥, 𝑆 𝑅 𝑡 + 𝑡 − 𝑥 , 𝑆 𝑑𝑥 + 𝑓 𝑥, 𝑆 𝑅 𝑡 + 𝑡 − 𝑥 , 𝑆 𝑑𝑥

𝑅 𝑡 =𝑒 𝑒 + 𝜆 𝑒 𝑒 𝑒 𝑑𝑡 + 𝜆 𝑒 𝑒 𝑒 𝑑𝑡

( ) 𝜆 𝜆 𝜆 𝑒 𝜆 𝑒
𝑅 𝑡 =𝑒 + 1− − + +
𝜆 +𝜆 −𝜆 𝜆 +𝜆 −𝜆 𝜆 +𝜆 −𝜆 𝜆 +𝜆 −𝜆
since
𝜆 =𝜆 =𝜆 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝜆 =𝜆 =𝜆
 Reliability Block Diagram
• Load Sharing
• Each unit is to supply 50% of total output, and if one of the units
1 fails, then the surviving unit supplies 100%.
• The failure rate for a unit in normal mode is 0.0002 failures per hour,
2 but if one unit has to carry the full load alone, the failure rate
increases to 0.0009 failures per hour.
• What is the reliability of the system over a 168-hour week of operation?

( ) 𝜆 𝜆 𝜆 𝑒 𝜆 𝑒
𝑅 𝑡 =𝑒 + 1− − + +
𝜆 +𝜆 −𝜆 𝜆 +𝜆 −𝜆 𝜆 +𝜆 −𝜆 𝜆 +𝜆 −𝜆
2𝜆
𝑅 𝑡 =𝑒 + 𝑒 −𝑒
𝜆 − 2𝜆
× . × 2 × 0.0002 × . × . ×
𝑅 168 = 𝑒 + 𝑒 −𝑒
0.0009 − 2 × 0.0002
𝑅 168 = 0.935 + 0.8 0.935 − 0.860 = 0.995