The Reliability Analysis Framework (RAF) extends ATICA features allowing to perform analysis at part (component) level. It is specially suited to fulfil the needs of designers of electronic equipment and RAMS teams.
ATICA_RAF extends the End-Product Breakdown Structure (EPBS) layer of Arcadia, providing additional functionalities to model basic components (EEE parts) and define part-level failure modes.
Upwards traceability is ensured by ATICA metamodel and the Failure Modes and Effects Summary (FMES) feature.
Extended ATICA metamodel
RAF plugin brings additional attributes to the ConfigurationItem elements of the EPBS layer; allowing to declare Part Numbers, Manufacturers and to specify dependability-related data for each component.
The now extended ConfigurationItem elements can also contain PartFailures, a new feature that refines and extends the FailureMode elements defined at the Physical Architecture layer.
Bill of materials
A table representation is provided to summarize the main attributes of each ConfigurationItem present in the product.
Each ConfigurationItem could be given a category and subcategory according to a customizable data base of typical types (for instance electronic components such as capacitors, diodes, integrated circuits etc.). Based on this classification the typical failure modes of such elements are automatically initialized, simpliying the tasks for the reliability prediction and the Failure Modes and Effects Analysis (FMEA).
The data base of electronic components is fully customizable. For simplicity it is stored as a plain text file (.csv) that could be edited with standard tools.
- The database supports up to three family levels to describe the components, for instance Electronic Equipment / Capacitor / Electrolytic.
- Any number of typical failure modes could be defined for each component. The failure mode probability (α) represents the probability of triggering that specific failure mode out of 100 failures of the component, and is derived from commonly used data sources (not to be mistaken with the failure rate of the component, typically given in Failures In Time, FITS; or Mean Time Between Failures, MTBF).
Piece-part FMEA
Failure-Modes and Effects Analysis (FMEA) performed at component level. This new representation allows to analyze and describe part-level failures and link their effects to other elements in the model.
Failure Modes and Effects Summary
This feature allows to group part-level failures producing the same effect, providing a summary to the next immediate layer of analysis (typically Physical Architecture) and abstracting out the relevant information for systems engineers.
This plugin is under development.
For more info, do not hesitate to reach out to us through the contact form