04_IMechE_FTSecFail_SJD&JDA.pdf (597.98 kB)
Analysis methods for fault trees that contain secondary failures
journal contribution
posted on 2008-10-30, 14:31 authored by Sarah DunnettSarah Dunnett, J.D. AndrewsThe fault tree methodology is appropriate when the component level failures (basic events)
occur independently. One situation where the conditions of independence are not met occurs when secondary
failure events appear in the fault tree structure. Guidelines for fault tree construction that have been utilized
for many years encourage the inclusion of secondary failures along with primary failures and command
faults in the representation of the failure logic. The resulting fault tree is an accurate representation of the
logic but may produce inaccurate quantitative results for the probability and frequency of system failure if
methodologies are used that rely on independence. This paper illustrates how inaccurate these quantitative
results can be. Alternative approaches are developed by which fault trees of this type of structure can be
analysed.
History
School
- Aeronautical, Automotive, Chemical and Materials Engineering
Department
- Aeronautical and Automotive Engineering
Citation
DUNNETT, S. and ANDREWS, J.D., 2004. Analysis methods for fault trees that contain secondary failures. Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Part E : Journal of Process Mechanical Engineering, 218 (2), pp. 93-102 [DOI:10.1243/095440804774134271]Publisher
© IMechE / Professional Engineering PublishingPublication date
2004Notes
This article was published in the journal, Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Part E : Journal of Process Mechanical Engineering [© IMechE] and is also available at: http://journals.pepublishing.com/content/119780ISSN
0954-4089Language
- en