Modeling and analysis of causes and consequences of failures

This paper presents a computer-supported method for modeling and analyzing causes and consequences of failures. The developed method is one of the main results from a nine-year research project, which was completed in February 2005 and carried out by Tampere University of Technology. The applicability of the developed methods and software has been tested in the companies, which have been involved in the research project. The participating companies are both manufacturers and users in metal, energy, process and electronics industries. Their products and systems have to respond to high safety and reliability demands. Most of the participating companies have started to apply the proposed method and software for modeling and analysis of failure logic for their products and systems. The application of the method forces experts to identify all potential component hardware failures, human errors, possible disturbances and deviations in the process, and environmental conditions related to the selected TOP-event. Based on experience, and with the help of the methods, it is possible to find out those problem areas of the design stage, which can delay product development and/or reduce safety and reliability