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Analysis of reliability using masked system life data

Analysis of reliability using masked system life data Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to provide maintenance personnel with a methodology for using masked field reliability data to determine the probability of each subassembly failure. Design/methodology/approach – The paper compares an iterative maximum likelihood estimation method and a Bayesian methodology for handling masked data collected from 227 identical radar power supplies. The power supply consists of several subassemblies hereafter referred to as shop replaceable assemblies (SRAs). Findings – The study examined two approaches for dealing with masking, an iterative maximum likelihood estimate procedure, IMLEP, and a Bayesian approach implemented with the application WinBUGS. It indicates that the performances of IMLEP and WinBUGS in estimating the parameters of the SRA distribution under no masking conditions are similar. IMLEP and WinBUGS also provide similar results under masking conditions. However, the study indicates that WinBUGS may perform better than IMLEP when the competing risk responsible for a failure represents a smaller total percentage of the total failures. Future study to confirm this conclusion by expanding the number of SRAs into which the item under study is organized is required. Research limitations/implications – If an item is considered to be comprised of various subassemblies and the failure of the first subassembly causes the item to fail, then the item is referred to as a series system in the literature. If the probability of a each subassembly failure is statistically independent then the item can be represented by a competing risk model and the probability distributions of the subassemblies can be ascertained from the item's failure data. When the item's cause of failure is not known, the data are referred to in the literature as being masked. Since competing risk theory requires a cause of failure and a time of failure, any masked data must be addressed in the competing risk model. Practical implications – This study indicates that competing risk theory can be applied to the equipment field failure data to determine a SRA's probability of failure and thereby provide an efficient sequence of replacing suspect failed SRAs. Originality/value – The analysis of masked failure data is an important area that has had only limited study in the literature due to the availability of failure data. This paper contributes to the research by providing the complete historical equipment usage data for the item under study gathered over a time frame of approximately seven years. http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png International Journal of Quality & Reliability Management Emerald Publishing

Analysis of reliability using masked system life data

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References (45)

Publisher
Emerald Publishing
Copyright
Copyright © 2009 Emerald Group Publishing Limited. All rights reserved.
ISSN
0265-671X
DOI
10.1108/02656710910975787
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to provide maintenance personnel with a methodology for using masked field reliability data to determine the probability of each subassembly failure. Design/methodology/approach – The paper compares an iterative maximum likelihood estimation method and a Bayesian methodology for handling masked data collected from 227 identical radar power supplies. The power supply consists of several subassemblies hereafter referred to as shop replaceable assemblies (SRAs). Findings – The study examined two approaches for dealing with masking, an iterative maximum likelihood estimate procedure, IMLEP, and a Bayesian approach implemented with the application WinBUGS. It indicates that the performances of IMLEP and WinBUGS in estimating the parameters of the SRA distribution under no masking conditions are similar. IMLEP and WinBUGS also provide similar results under masking conditions. However, the study indicates that WinBUGS may perform better than IMLEP when the competing risk responsible for a failure represents a smaller total percentage of the total failures. Future study to confirm this conclusion by expanding the number of SRAs into which the item under study is organized is required. Research limitations/implications – If an item is considered to be comprised of various subassemblies and the failure of the first subassembly causes the item to fail, then the item is referred to as a series system in the literature. If the probability of a each subassembly failure is statistically independent then the item can be represented by a competing risk model and the probability distributions of the subassemblies can be ascertained from the item's failure data. When the item's cause of failure is not known, the data are referred to in the literature as being masked. Since competing risk theory requires a cause of failure and a time of failure, any masked data must be addressed in the competing risk model. Practical implications – This study indicates that competing risk theory can be applied to the equipment field failure data to determine a SRA's probability of failure and thereby provide an efficient sequence of replacing suspect failed SRAs. Originality/value – The analysis of masked failure data is an important area that has had only limited study in the literature due to the availability of failure data. This paper contributes to the research by providing the complete historical equipment usage data for the item under study gathered over a time frame of approximately seven years.

Journal

International Journal of Quality & Reliability ManagementEmerald Publishing

Published: Jul 31, 2009

Keywords: Maintenance reliability; Data analysis; Risk analysis; Failure (mechanical)

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