Integrating RAMS engineering and management with the safety life cycle of IEC 61508

This article outlines a new approach to reliability, availability, maintainability, and safety (RAMS) engineering and management. The new approach covers all phases of the new product development process and is aimed at producers of complex products like safety instrumented systems (SIS). The article discusses main RAMS requirements to a SIS and presents these requirements in a holistic perspective. The approach is based on a new life cycle model for product development and integrates this model into the safety life cycle of IEC 61508. A high integrity pressure protection system (HIPPS) for an offshore oil and gas application is used to illustrate the approach.     

Loss of safety assessment and the IEC 61508 standard

The standard IEC 61508 contains a lot of useful information and guidance for safety improvement regarding the use of safety systems. However, some of the basic concepts and methods for loss of safety quantification are somewhat confusing. This paper discusses the failure classification, the various contributions to the safety unavailability, and in particular the common cause failure (CCF) model presented in this standard. Suggestions for clarifications and improvements are provided. In particular, a new CCF model is suggested, denoted the Multiple Beta Factor model.     

Design optimization of a safety-instrumented system based on RAMS+C addressing IEC 61508 requirements and diverse redundancy

This paper presents the design optimization by a multi-objective genetic algorithm of a safety-instrumented system based on RAMS+C measures. This includes optimization of safety and reliability measures plus lifecycle cost. Diverse redundancy is implemented as an option for redundancy allocation, and special attention is paid to its effect on common cause failure and the overall system objectives. The requirements for safety integrity established by the standard IEC 61508 are addressed, as well as the modelling detail required for this purpose. The problem is about reliability and redundancy allocation with diversity for a series-parallel system. The objectives to optimize are the average probability of failure on demand, which represents the system safety integrity, Spurious Trip Rate and Lifecycle Cost. The overall method is illustrated with a practical example from the chemical industry: a safety function against high pressure and temperature for a chemical reactor. In order to implement diversity, each subsystem is given the option of three different technologies, each technology with different reliability and diagnostic coverage characteristics. Finally, the optimization with diversity is compared against optimization without diversity.     

Extending the Possibilities of Quantitative Determination of SIL – a Procedure Based on IEC 61508 and the Markov Model with Common Cause Failures

Generalized equations for calculating the probability of failure on demand (PFD) in accordance with the IEC 61508 standard and a model based on Markov processes, taking into account common cause failures, are proposed in this paper. The solutions presented in the standard and in many references concentrate on simple k‐out‐of‐n architectures. The equations proposed in the standard concern cases for n ≤ 3. In safety‐related systems applied in industry, architectures of a number of elements n larger than three often occur. For this reason, a generalized equation for calculating PFD was proposed. For cases presented in the standard, the proposed equation provides identical results. The presented simplified Markov model allows the determination of the system availability (A(t)) and unavailability (1–A(t)) as well as their values in the steady state (A and 1–A). This model can be an alternative method of PDF calculations for various k‐out‐of‐n architectures with self‐diagnostic elements. Calculations performed according to the proposed models provide very similar results. The developed models are suitable for practical implementations in calculations of the safety integrity level. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Improving the Quality of Information Flows in the Backend of a Product Development Process: a Case Study

Considerable research has gone into designing effective product development processes. This, coupled with the increasing need for products that are able to deliver reliable, complex functionality with a high degree of innovation, presents a major challenge to modern day industries in the business of developing products. In order to incorporate relevant field experience in the design and manufacturing of new products, increasingly detailed information needs to be retrieved from the market in a very short amount of time. In one particular consumer electronics industry, business process models describing the information flow in the backend of the product development process indicated massive data loss and also serious data quality degradation. This paper attempts to show how such losses can be mitigated and also proposes a business model that can adequately capture information of a higher quality and in a more structured manner. The end result will be a product development process that provides better feedback on current product performance and is more responsive to future market needs. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Why do quality and reliability feedback loops not always work in practice: a case study

The increasing competition in the market of consumer electronics forces industry to simultaneously improve the functionability, reliability and costs of their products. Due to the strong dynamics of this field an important measure in improving product quality is the feedback of information on actual field behaviour of a product which is extremely relevant for product development. This information, usually gathered by the service department, can help development to learn from the failures of earlier products and to improve the next product generations. This feedback process, however, does not always bring the expected benefits. This paper presents a model, based on an actual case study, of the structure of the feedback process in terms of information flows. The information flow model describes the chain or network of activities in the feedback process as a function of (different) drivers such as cost, time or quality. Using this information flow model it is possible to explain how quality and reliability related information propagates through a business process and where and why communication problems lead to disruptions in the feedback of this information. With this model, it is easier to understand the function of different parties in the service or after sales process, so that management of the information in this process becomes more transparent and can be improved.     

Modified robust geotechnical design approach based on the sensitivity of reliability index

The robust geotechnical design (RGD), which aims to ensure a design that is robust against variations in the input variables, is receiving wider attention and acceptance in the past few years. In this paper, the authors proposed the sensitivity of reliability index (SRI) to evaluate the feasibility robustness of the design, resulting in a modified RGD approach. The performance of the proposed approach was examined by a geotechnical design example, and its advantages are evidenced.     

The simulator experimental study on the operator reliability of Qinshan nuclear power plant

The scarcity of human failure data is a major problem that embarrasses human reliability analysts for a long time. In the human reliability analysis of Qinshan nuclear power plant, a full-size simulator was used to conduct an experiment on the operator's reliability. The experiment involves 23 abnormal events and 55 human interactions covering 3 cognitive types: skill-based, rule-based and knowledge-based. The response time and conditions of 38 operators were recorded and the data were analyzed and processed to develop human cognitive reliability model parameters, which match with the features of Qinshan nuclear power plant system and its staff. This paper introduces the background, theory, methods, process, conclusion of the experiment and their comparison with data obtained abroad.     

多状态可修复k/n系统的随时间响应可靠性研究

利用离散时间的马尔科夫链和半马尔科夫链对复杂的多状态可修复k/n系统元件的多样性进行了分析,给出了元件状态变化以及在状态逗留时间的概率分布计算公式,然后给出了元件在状态变化、状态寿命变化的一步概率转移矩阵,最后根据对元件的分析,导出了系统的可靠度与可用度的预测模型。算例表明,得出的模型易行、有效。     

风、列车作用下斜拉桥索-梁相关振动对拉索疲劳可靠性的影响

以实际大跨度斜拉桥为研究对象,研究了随机风、列车作用下发生的索-梁相关振动对拉索疲劳可靠性的影响.使用编制的动力有限元计算程序,建立了大跨度铁路斜拉桥全桥3维精细有限元模型,计算了斜拉桥全桥在风、列车动力作用下的振动响应,分析了全桥索-梁相关振动的特性.建立了列车交通荷载概率模型,根据桥位处风速统计数据资料建立了桥梁的...     

Critical assessment of medical devices on reliability,replacement prioritization and maintenance strategy criterion: Case study of Malaysian hospitals

The Biomedical Engineering Maintenance Services (BEMS) is a comprehensive maintenance program that ensures the safety and reliability of medical devices. Significant and crucial devices are identified and prioritized for best practice prior to the equipment life cycle to mitigate functional problems, alarmed by the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) underlying the modernization agenda. A model of multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) to prioritize medical devices according to their criticality is presented in this paper, with the utilization of quality function deployment (QFD) and fuzzy logic in the development of the model through a quantitative survey of experts from all regions in Malaysia. As a result, a customized version of the Asset Criticality Assessment (ACA) is developed and is recommended for use in more than 144 Ministry of Health (MOH) hospitals. Subsequently, real data of four selected devices are pulled from the Asset and Services Information System (ASIS) to demonstrate a relevant and comparable end-result using the QFD and fuzzy logic. In essence, the key contribution of the customized ACA model is that it assesses a promising evaluation with a broader range on both the performance of medical devices and the appropriate asset replacement choices. This leads to an effective maintenance strategy for each device and the modernization of reliability computation metrics.     

Incorporating organizational factors into Probabilistic Risk Assessment (PRA) of complex socio-technical systems: A hybrid technique formalization

This paper is a result of a research with the primary purpose of extending Probabilistic Risk Assessment (PRA) modeling frameworks to include the effects of organizational factors as the deeper, more fundamental causes of accidents and incidents. There have been significant improvements in the sophistication of quantitative methods of safety and risk assessment, but the progress on techniques most suitable for organizational safety risk frameworks has been limited. The focus of this paper is on the choice of “representational schemes” and “techniques.” A methodology for selecting appropriate candidate techniques and their integration in the form of a “hybrid” approach is proposed. Then an example is given through an integration of System Dynamics (SD), Bayesian Belief Network (BBN), Event Sequence Diagram (ESD), and Fault Tree (FT) in order to demonstrate the feasibility and value of hybrid techniques. The proposed hybrid approach integrates deterministic and probabilistic modeling perspectives, and provides a flexible risk management tool for complex socio-technical systems. An application of the hybrid technique is provided in the aviation safety domain, focusing on airline maintenance systems. The example demonstrates how the hybrid method can be used to analyze the dynamic effects of organizational factors on system risk.     

A study on construction of a kaizen case-base and its utilisation: a case of visual management in fabrication and assembly shop-floors

In this paper, focusing on visual management (VM) as one of the kaizen technologies, a procedure for its new case development is discussed. This procedure consists of two portions. The first portion is construction of kaizen case-base, namely: (1) correction and analysis of kaizen cases; (2) establishment of drivers and instances of investigated kaizen case; and (3) analysis of proximity relationship among kaizen cases. The second portion is utilisation of kaizen case-base, namely: (4) selection of kaizen case from kaizen case-base; (5) consideration of the other related kaizen cases; and (6) new kaizen case design. A case study is performed to assure the relevance of the proposed procedure by focusing on ‘dispatching board’, a typical VM technology. Through collaboration with a factory eager to implement VM, the proposed procedure is qualified by experts as a useful method for kaizen knowledge transfer.     

Metal nanoparticle doped coloured coatings on glasses and plastics through tuning of surface plasmon band position

Several noble metal nanoparticles doped sol-gel derived thin coloured films have been synthesized and characterized. These are pure (Ag, Au, Cu and Pt), mixed/alloy (Ag-Cu, Au-Cu, Au-Ag and Au-Pt) nanoparticles in SiO₂, Au in mixed SiO₂-TiO₂ and SiO₂-ZrO₂, Au and Ag nanoparticles in inorganic-organic hybrid film matrices etc. This investigation leads to the development of tailor-made coloured coatings by tuning the surface plasmon resonance (SPR) band positions originating from the embedded nanometals by controlling mainly (i) refractive index of the film matrices and (ii) nanoalloy composition. In the later case a new layer-by-layer (two-layer) synthetic protocol has been developed to prepare binary nanoalloy particles with controlled atomic ratios.     

A literature review on performance measures of logistics management: an intellectual capital perspective

Today, logistics management requires a comprehensive set of performance indicators that measure both tangible assets and intellectual capital (IC) of organisations. Nevertheless, most of the measures used in the past mainly related to the financial aspect, although some specific components of IC, such as process efficiency and effectiveness, have been considered. Logistics literature lacks a comprehensive consideration of the diverse IC measures, and it is unclear which area of IC requires more focus and development. Therefore, to explore and identify an opportunity for improvement, this study reviews the academic literature related to IC measures in logistics management. This literature review considers 111 academic articles published between 1994 and 2016. Following the six dimensions of the IC-Index, all indicators obtained from the literature are classified according to IC elements. The key contribution of this review is that it addresses the following gaps in the literature: the limited adoption of comprehensive IC methods in logistics studies; underdevelopment of specific indicators and measures used; failure to consider all human capital as well as renewal and development elements; and, finally, lack of academic research considering the influences among the different IC elements and logistics and financial performance.