Failure

An experiment conducted to ascertain the time-to-failure characteristics of an item attributable to a specific failure mechanism. ALT shortens the time to failure by using more stressful conditions or higher use rates.

For a failure that has operational consequences, the combined cost of the operational consequences and the cost of corrective maintenance; for a failure that has nonoperational consequences, the direct cost of corrective maintenance.

The statistical and/or graphical analysis of data related to the expected or actual item failures during the warranty period. Warranty analysis is performed to estimate the warranty expenses for a product using reliability estimations. In addition, the analysis of existing warranty claims data may reveal patterns or trends suitable for product improvements or for forecasting the expected number of future warranty claims.

A technique to explore the many potential or actual causes of product or system failure. FTA is a top-down analysis method, where one starts with a symptom or fault and then lists the many possible causes in a structured manner. It provides a structured way to organize information about the occurrence of the top event. FTA may be useful to create a system reliability model to estimate system reliability performance or to organize brainstorming potential paths of events that lead to the occurrence of the top event.

Determining the location of a failure to the extent possible.