 |
|
|
Training
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Training
|
|
|
|
Reliability, Availability and Maintainability (RAM) are essential elements of modern business. The intelligent application of RAM techniques to engineering design saves money and ensures safety.
The objectives of this course are to introduce engineers to the ideas of RAM, the benefits that can come from RAM, to typical RAM management programmes and to some of the RAM techniques used in engineering design.
The course lasts three days and consists of 13 lectures, six workshops, and a discussion period. Total time is about 18 hours, excluding breaks for lunch and light refreshments. This makes the course very intensive - for both the lecturer and the students. Full details of the course are given below.
Attendees receive a full set of course note (about 350 pages) and a separate book of exercises, with worked solutions. A set of Microsoft Excel spreadsheets is supplied, suitable for many common analyses; these are used to illustrate the examples. Attendees also receive a copy of the RAM Glossary, giving "engineering" definitions of thousands of RAM terms.
The course is intended for engineers whose work is likely to involve generating R&M requirements, interpreting suppliers' data, and performing simple R&M analyses. It assumes a slight knowledge of elementary statistics and is oriented towards mechanical and process engineering.
Duration: 1.5 hours
Brief introduction to the ideas of RAM and to the course. Includes basic definitions of some specialised terms such as "reliability", "maintainability", "availability", etc. Describes how an organisation can benefit from the application of RAM techniques. Benefits described include:
Describes the different types of engineered systems, their RAM characteristics and how these affect design and specification.
Duration: 1 hour
The importance of "availability" in production systems. How to determine availability requirements and translate them into specific needs for reliability and maintainability.
Duration: 30 minutes
Describes the project to be undertaken through the course workshops.
Duration: 1.5 hour + 30-minute workshop
Gives the theory and practice of reliability and availability block diagrams. Students complete several block diagrams, including one for the project.
Duration: 1 hour
How to improve the RAM performance of existing designs to reduce costs and increase efficiency. Includes the use of redundancy, reducing stress on components, and identifying and correcting weaknesses in maintenance. The emphasis is on improving availability in the most cost-effective way.
Duration: 1 hour + 30 minute workshop
Describes the major statistical distributions used in failure data analysis. Includes a detailed treatment of the Exponential, Weibull and LiFE distributions.
Duration: 1.5 hour + 1 hour workshop
How to analyse and interpret failure data. Sources of failure data. Problems and pitfalls. The emphasis is on data as collected from maintenance and repair records, rather than on life-testing of components under controlled conditions. Attendees perform an analysis of data during the workshop and interpret the results.
Duration: 1 hour
Covers basic RAM requirements and how to communicate them both internally and to suppliers. Briefly describes what to look for in a supplier's response to RAM requirements.
Duration: 1.5 hours
Basic Fault Tree Analysis (FTA). Introduces the method and contrasts it with reliability block diagrams. The emphasis is on getting the structure right, followed by simple calculations.
Duration: 1 hour + 1 hour workshop
Covers latent faults and other problems which can arise in quantifying fault trees.
Duration: 1.5 hour + 30-minute workshop
How to estimate and compare the maintainability - the ease of maintenance - for different designs. Attendees complete a simple maintainability analysis during the workshop.
Duration: 1 hour
Introduces Failure Modes and Effects Analysis (FMEA). Covers application to both components and systems and compares it with the examples used in FTA.
Duration 1 hour + 30 minute workshop.
Explains the importance of Fault Detection & Failure Location in the contexts of both maintainability and safety. Shows how the necessary information can be derived from either FMEA or HAZOP.
Details of costs, numbers, etc are given in the introductory statement. Please note that the cost of shipping the manuals - which can weigh up to 23kg - to the customer's site is extra.
Those attending receive :
- Full printed notes, loose-leaf bound.
- Excel spreadsheets for RAM calculations.
- A database of equipment failure rates.
- A glossary of RAM terms.
Attendees should bring a calculator with scientific functions (exp, log(x), etc.) and a supply of paper. Specialised forms and graph paper will be supplied by ility Engineering as part of the course materials.
If desired, a confidential assessment of attendees performance on the course can be given, based on participation and the project work.