Automated incremental design FMEA

Abstract

Failure modes and effects analysis (FMEA) is typically a costly manual process. We present the EPOCH (Engineering Product and Operations Cross-cutting Hybrid) Simulation for Failure Analysis software, which automates generation of FMEA from design models. The tool performs sets of scenario-based analyses, using the CONFIG hybrid discrete event simulator, to generate reports summarizing detailing analysis results. The paper describes how the tool uses this simulator, and how timestep modeling has be extended to handle failure cases that violate steady state assumptions and approximations that are well founded for the nominal case. The automation supports incremental FMEA: reporting how a design change alters the presentation of the functional effects of failures, as seen over a set of operational scenarios. We describe the representations of failure modes, scenario scripts and functional labels that supports the capabilities of this tool. An example is presented, based on analysis of a propellant production plant for a planetary base.