New Domain-Independent Methods for Reliability Improvement and Risk Reduction

Abstract

The common domain-specific approach to reliability improvement and risk reduction created the false perception that effective risk reduction can be delivered successfully solely by using methods offered by the specific domain. This paper argues that reliability improvement and risk reduction is underpinned by general principles whose knowledge helps to generate effective solutions in various unrelated application domains. The paper proposes a number of domain-independent methods for risk reduction which do not rely on reliability data or knowledge of physical mechanisms underlying the failure modes. The proposed domain-independent methods reduce risk at no extra cost or at a small cost and are well-suited for developing new engineering designs, with unknown failure mechanisms and failure history.