After the system has been drawn in block diagram form, subsystem and component reliability goals and targets are established. This is a common practice in the development of complex systems, particularly when different design teams or subcontractors are involved. Reliability allocation involves setting reliability objectives for components or subsystems in order to meet a system reliability objective and should occur in the initial stages of design or prior to designing major system upgrades. [Read more…]
Articles tagged Reliability apportionment (allocation)
The process of breaking down system reliability and availability objectives to subsystems and major components. Reliability allocation specifies clearly stated reliability goals for all elements of an item. This information is useful when seeking suitable elements (parts or subsystems). It gives a means to compare the reliability performance of subsystems or elements to a specific and measurable objective.
Reliability Apportionment
Diverging from reliability statistics for a post or two, let’s consider one way which R(t), reliability at time, t, is useful during the design phase of a product. Apportionment is the breakdown or allocation of reliability goals or objectives to elements within the product.
Overall, the product’s reliability is just one number, and it represents what the customer will experience with the product. During design, we often work on subsystems and components. Having a meaningful way to describe the reliability requirements that also assists the team to meet the overall product goal, is, well, useful. [Read more…]