Abstract

The general objective of this work is to analyze the failure of HVAC components in metro trains by using reliability assessment techniques. Various failure causes with respect to the electronic, electrical, hydraulic, pneumatic, software and mechanical components were identified. To improve upon the reliability characteristics of the system, in depth qualitative analysis of all HVAC units is carried out using Root cause analysis (RCA) and failure modes and effect analysis (FMEA) by listing all possible failure modes and their possible causes. Based on FMEA of components, Risk Priority Number (RPN) is calculated.

Introduction

Failure as defined by IEC 50 (191) the termination of the ability of an item to perform a required function is nearly an unavoidable phenomenon with respect to systems and assessing the reliability of complex systems (composed of a large number of components) is really a difficult task. The advances in technology has made the job of reliability/system analyst(s) more challenging as they have to study, characterize, measure and analyse the behavior of system using various techniques such as Markov modeling (MM), fault tree (FT), failure modes and effect analysis (FMEA), root cause analysis (RCA) and non-homogeneous Poisson point process (NHPPP).

Literature

For instance, Hauptmanns [1] used the FT approach to analyse propagation of uncertainties through fault trees for process plant safety using frequency and probability ranges. In their paper on Strategic value of reliability and maintainability authors [2] emphasized on the need of maintaining the equipment in good condition in order to eliminate the sudden and sporadic failures resulting in production loss.

Contd

Sharma et.al, [3] used the RCA to identify the causes resulting in poor/less/rough plating in cylinder liners. Sankar and Prabhu [4], Sharma et al. [5] carried out FMEA research focused on improving traditional FMEA limitations by using different schemes to identify and prioritize failure causes in engineering systems. Liberopoulos and Tsarouhas [6] presented a statistical analysis of failure data of an automated pizza production line.

Reliability

Reliability is defined as a measure of the probability for failure-free operation during a given interval, i.e., measure of success for a failure free operation. The reliability of a component is calculated as R (t) =et Where, is the constant failure rate of the component [h1] t the operational time. As such, the reliability of a system is determined by the constituent sub-systems and reliability of each subsystem is, in turn, determined by the associated components and their possible failure modes. In a hierarchical structure, it is usually important that the reliability or system analyst should make use of the information produced at lower level. .

Pareto Analysis

Conclusions

Root Cause Analysis helps in understanding the causes behind various failures which lead to the unreliability of HVAC components. It shows the major types of failures i.e. electronics, electrical, pneumatic, hydraulic, mechanical and software. The FMEA analysis indicates that the critical components of the HVAC system are condenser fan motor, tubing, electric motor, valves, compressor and MCB.

Contd

The failures in condenser fan motor can cause stop in the proper functioning of condenser and significant rise in temperature. This result comes from the relatively high severity that the failures in these components present although their frequency is quite low. The criticality of tubing comes from the fact that the leakages and the chocking of tubes can lead to serious hazards in the system. Vibrations in the motor and other component can make their proper functioning impractical and make the system noisy. MCB becomes critical due to the fact that the failure occurrence is quite high with respect to others which increase its RPN because of high current drawn and overloading.

References

[1] Hauptmanns, U. (2004), Semi-quantitative fault tree analysis for process plant safety using frequency and probability ranges, Journal of Loss Prevention in the Process Industries , Vol. 17 No. 3, pp. 339-45. [2] Madu, C.N. (2005), Strategic value of reliability and maintainability, International Journal of Quality & Reliability Management, Vol. 22 No. 3, pp. 317-28. [3] Sharma, R. (2005), Reduction of process defects in chrome-plated cylinder liners in WDM diesel locomotives using TQM tools, Industrial Engineering Journal, Vol. 34 No. 3, pp. 17-21. [4] Sankar, N.R. and Prabhu, B.S. (2001), Modied approach for prioritization of failures in a system failure mode effect analysis, International Journal of Quality & Reliability Management, Vol. 18 No. 3, pp. 324-35. [5] Sharma, R., Kumar, D. and Kumar, P. (2005), Systematic failure mode and effect analysis using fuzzy linguistic modeling, International Journal of Quality & Reliability Management, Vol. 22 No. 9, pp. 886-1004.

Contd

[6] Liberopoulos G , Tsarouhas P. Reliability analysis of an automated pizza production line. Journal of Food Eng 2005; 69(1):7996 [7] Connor P.D.T. (2002), Practical Reliability Engineering, Heyden, London. [8] Sharma, R., Kumar, D. and Kumar, P. (2008), Predicting uncertain behavior of industrial system using FM A practical case, Applied Soft Computing, Vol. 8 No. 1, pp. 96-109. [9] Sharma, R., Kumar, D. and Kumar, P. (2008), Fuzzy modeling of system behavior for risk and reliability analysis, International Journal of Systems Science, 39:6, 563 581 [10] Chang K.H (2009) Evaluate the orderings of risk for failure problems using a more general RPN methodology, Microelectronics Reliability 49, 15861596

THANKS