Identification of system failure causes using bond graph models

This paper proposes the use of bond graphs in system reliability analysis to obtain combinations of component failures and disturbances leading to the system failure. Since bond graphs show a direct correspondence between their component and physical phenomena to be modeled, it is easy to obtain not only a system model, but also component failure representations. The system bond graph can be easily modified by its stepwise refinement. Using the formal causality assignment procedure, propagation paths of disturbances can be identified. Further, the detailed analysis can be also performed using quantitative information. Illustrative examples show the details and merits of the proposed method