NSYS-6151 Systems Reliability Engineering (SY 750)

Note: The following provides a suggested course description, objectives, and an outline. These may be modified pending discussion with the Faculty Chairs, proposing faculty, and other curriculum reviewers.

Representative Course Description:

Classical techniques and concepts needed for evaluating the long term and short-term reliability of engineering systems. An in-depth coverage of tasks, processes, methods and techniques for achieving and maintaining the required level of system reliability considering operational performance, customer satisfaction and affordability. Specific topics include: establishing system reliability requirements, reliability program planning, system reliability modeling and analysis, system reliability design guidelines and analysis, system reliability test and evaluation, and maintaining inherent system reliability during production and operation.

Representative Course Objectives:

To provide the student with the knowledge and tools necessary for an engineering approach to the evaluation of probabilistic reliability of engineering.

To provide students with proven methods and techniques for developing reliable systems--utilizing systems engineering principles along with systems analyses as a basis for trade-offs involving systems configurations, component reliability, systems operational requirements, cost and risk-applicable for all products and services, as well as to other engineering design courses.

Representative Course Topical Areas:

• Introduction to system reliability concepts, customer expectations, market competition and system performance, effectiveness, affordability warranty and customer satisfaction.
• System reliability requirements and relationship to system safety, cost of ownership, maintainability, supportability, logistics, quality and operational availability, and reliability program planning.
• System reliability modeling and analysis--types of models (Catastrophic failure models, probability distribution functions and their application in reliability evaluation, combinatorial aspects of system reliability, Markov models and applications , approximate methods), system reliability measures, basic reliability – series configuration, reliability block diagrams Mission reliability - series configurations and redundant configurations, system reliability allocations and predictions
• System reliability design guidelines and analysis--design-to guidelines and best practices, FMECA (failure modes, effects and criticality analysis), FTA (Fault Tree Analysis), WCA (Worst Case Analysis), PHMA (prognostics) and health monitoring analysis, RCMA (reliability Centered Maintenance Analysis) and integrity analysis.
• System Reliability Test and Evaluation - types of reliability tests, test planning, reliability growth planning, assessment and management, Environmental Stress Screening (ESS), operational reliability tests and Failure Reporting and Corrective System (FRACAS).
• Maintain inherent system reliability during production and operation - variability reduction, root cause failure analysis, process FMECA, reliability assessment techniques and quality and reliability improvement

SY 720 NT, Systems Engineering and Analysis or experience industry experience with Systems Engineering concepts and processes