In-service reliability assessment and top-down approach provides alternative reliability prediction method

摘要

The desire to develop a realistic Mean-Time-Between-Failure (MTBF), Mean-Time-STo-Failure (MTTF), or failure rate prediction method, which doesn't assume that only piece part faults cause system failures, has led to a new methodology involving in-serivce reliability assessment and a top-down approach. This methodology reduces uncertainty in the reliability predictions by relying primarily on recent Line Replaceable Units (LRUs) field failure data history of inservice LRU designs with verified field performance that are similar in hardware and function to new LRU designs. Experience demonstrates that this new method as applied to hardware used in the commercial avionics industry reflects a high degree of accuracy on the MTBF prediction process applied to the new LRU designs.