Course Day 1
Introductions
- Reliability history and objectives.
- Basic principles.
- The nature of engineering design versus reliability analysis.
- Group activity.
Reliability Mathematics
- Reliability distributions, including exponential and binomial distributions.
- Probability and the Bayes Theorem.
- Reliability equations.
- Reliability block diagrams.
- Excel applications.
- Group activity.
Failure Rate, MTBF, and Other Reliability Metrics
- Failure rate sources.
- MIL-HDBK-217F.
- NPRD-2011.
- Supplier data.
- MTBF, MTBUR, URR, and other calculations.
- Excel applications.
- Group activity.
Hardware, Firmware, and Software Reliability
- Hardware, firmware, and software definitions.
- The nature of firmware and software “failures.”
- Software test approaches and objectives.
- Improving software reliability.
- Group activity.
Reliability Testing and Growth
- MIL-STD-785.
- Reliability demonstration testing.
- Test, analysis, and fix (TAAF) approaches.
- Reliability growth models.
- The Duane growth model.
- Excel applications.
- Group activity.
Course Day 2
Failure Modes and Effects Analysis
- FMEA history, applications, and objectives
- MIL-STD-1629, SAE J1739, and other FMEA standards.
- Design and Process FMEA.
- Risk Priority Number calculations.
- Corrective and preventive actions.
- Using Excel to streamline the FMEA process.
- Failure mode effects summaries (FMES).
- Excel applications.
- Group activity.
Design of Experiments
- Hypothesis testing.
- z-tests, t-tests, f-tests, and others.
- ANOVA considerations.
- Taguchi and fractional factorial experimental approaches.
- Excel applications.
- Group activity.
Process Capability
- Process capability definitions.
- The normal curve.
- Design and process tolerances versus process capability.
- Cp and Cpk.
- Sampling plans.
- Operating characteristic curves.
- Statistical process control.
- Using Excel for Cp and Cpk calculations.
- Predicting rejection probabilities based on process capability.
- Group activity.
Course Day 3
Root Cause Failure Analysis
- The four-step problem solving process.
- Ishikawa diagrams, mind mapping, 5-Whys, and flow charting.
- Fault tree analysis.
- Managing the failure analysis.
- FMA&A matrices.
- Corrective and preventive action.
- Group activity.
Reliability of Single-Shot Devices
- Munitions, ammunition, airbags, and other energetic material devices.
- Bruceton testing.
- The Butterfield model.
- Space ordnance considerations.
- Excel applications.
- Group activity.
Product and Process Reliability
- Applying reliability engineering concepts to process analysis.
- Typical process reliability challenges.
- Poka-Yoke techniques and applications for preventing design and process mistakes.
- Excel applications.
- Group activity.
Warranty Considerations
- The nature of product warranties.
- Defining warranty requirements.
- Predicting long term reliability from a warranty perspective.
- Identifying and correcting reliability degradation drivers.
- Warranty financial considerations.
- Developing a warranty testing approach.
- Warranty remedy considerations.
- Excel applications.
- Group activity.
System Safety Considerations
- System safety history.
- MIL-STD-882.
- Preliminary hazard analyses.
- Operating hazard analyses.
- Subsystem hazard analysis.
- Fault tree analysis.
- Excel applications.
- Group activity.
Course Review and Critique
- Course review.
- Developing a go-forward plan.