×
INTELLIGENT WORK FORUMS
FOR ENGINEERING PROFESSIONALS

Contact US

Log In

Come Join Us!

Are you an
Engineering professional?
Join Eng-Tips Forums!
  • Talk With Other Members
  • Be Notified Of Responses
    To Your Posts
  • Keyword Search
  • One-Click Access To Your
    Favorite Forums
  • Automated Signatures
    On Your Posts
  • Best Of All, It's Free!

*Eng-Tips's functionality depends on members receiving e-mail. By joining you are opting in to receive e-mail.

Posting Guidelines

Promoting, selling, recruiting, coursework and thesis posting is forbidden.

Students Click Here

Adding MTBF's

Adding MTBF's

Adding MTBF's

(OP)
OK. First post and quite a simple query, that I really should know but something just doesn't sit well with me !

Is it acceptable to simply add sub-system MTBF's together to obtain the overall System MTBF ?

Eg.

A = 3000 miles MTBF
B = 2000 miles MTBF
C = 4000 miles MTBF

System MTBF = 9000 MTBF

Thanks in advance.

KB.

RE: Adding MTBF's

A chain is only as strong as it's weakest link....

RE: Adding MTBF's

No, you add failure rates.  You have 3 things with MTBFs all less than 4000 miles. Why would you even think that the aggregate MTBF would be more than 4000 miles?

TTFN

FAQ731-376: Eng-Tips.com Forum Policies

RE: Adding MTBF's

(OP)
Thanks for your replies. I agree, you can add failure rates and multiply reliabilities. However, an MTBF is the reciprocal of a failure rate I wasn't sure if you could therefore add them too ! As mentioned though in my initial post it just didn't sit well with me and when I look back through all my reliability notes etc. I can't find any reference where this has occurred. Moreover, I have been asked by my manager who also has some reliability knowledge to perform such a task. It didn't seem correct to me at the time but I began to doubt my knowledge base and so didn't challenge it at the time.

So in essence, to obtain an overall System MTBF one would need to first convert the MTBF to a failure rate, then add the FR's before converting back to an MTBF !

Thanks.
KB.

RE: Adding MTBF's

(OP)
As an aside, something else that I have been uncomfortable about is I have been estimating MTBF's for various vehicle system during trials.

If for example a vehicle has accrued a total of 4000 trials miles and has had say, 2 failures I have estimated the FR as 2000 miles MTBF for that system. This I have little issue with, however, for a sub-system that has not had any failures for the trial duration I have assumed that the MTBF is equal to the accrued mileage, i.e. 4000 miles accrued and no failures, MTBF is 4000 miles.

Does this sound acceptable ?

Thanks.
KB.

 

RE: Adding MTBF's

(OP)
Hi IR Stuff,

I don't really follow what you mean. How else would you be able to determine an overall MTBF without converting the MTBF's to FR's prior to summing?. One ultimately ends up with an overall FR, which logically could be converted to an MTBF.

Cheers,
KB.
 

RE: Adding MTBF's

But, that's not what you did.  You assigned the entire, final MTBF to a single component.  This would result in all the other components needing infinite MTBFs to get the sum to work out correctly.

Do the math, assume 2 other components:

1/(2/4000 + 1/4000 + 1/4000) = 1000 mi MTBF

TTFN

FAQ731-376: Eng-Tips.com Forum Policies

RE: Adding MTBF's

(OP)
Hi IRstuff,

Maybe I've misunderstood you or vice versa, but I agree with what you've laid out in your last post. That is precisely what I have done and another quick check on the internet has also confirmed the methodology I believe !

http://mtbf.polimore.com/index.php?Filename=help.1.1.en.php&LANGUAGE=en

Thanks once again. I get the feeling I shall be coming here on quite a frequent basis in the not too distant future !! winky smile

Cheers,
KB.

RE: Adding MTBF's

OK, then, we're good to go.  Obviously, MTBF is, at best, a complicated affair, particularly when it comes to determining the actual conditions of the MTBF calculation.  That'll determine a big chunk of the estimated performance.

TTFN

FAQ731-376: Eng-Tips.com Forum Policies

RE: Adding MTBF's

The Reliable Engineer Primer (Cover title: CRE primer)
By Robert A Dovich, Bill Wortman, Quality Council of Indiana, Published by Quality Council of Indiana, 1995
Page VI-9 says, ". . .in series systems, the failure rate are additive; MTBF values are not!"

Red Flag This Post

Please let us know here why this post is inappropriate. Reasons such as off-topic, duplicates, flames, illegal, vulgar, or students posting their homework.

Red Flag Submitted

Thank you for helping keep Eng-Tips Forums free from inappropriate posts.
The Eng-Tips staff will check this out and take appropriate action.

Reply To This Thread

Posting in the Eng-Tips forums is a member-only feature.

Click Here to join Eng-Tips and talk with other members! Already a Member? Login


Resources

Low-Volume Rapid Injection Molding With 3D Printed Molds
Learn methods and guidelines for using stereolithography (SLA) 3D printed molds in the injection molding process to lower costs and lead time. Discover how this hybrid manufacturing process enables on-demand mold fabrication to quickly produce small batches of thermoplastic parts. Download Now
Design for Additive Manufacturing (DfAM)
Examine how the principles of DfAM upend many of the long-standing rules around manufacturability - allowing engineers and designers to place a part’s function at the center of their design considerations. Download Now
Taking Control of Engineering Documents
This ebook covers tips for creating and managing workflows, security best practices and protection of intellectual property, Cloud vs. on-premise software solutions, CAD file management, compliance, and more. Download Now

Close Box

Join Eng-Tips® Today!

Join your peers on the Internet's largest technical engineering professional community.
It's easy to join and it's free.

Here's Why Members Love Eng-Tips Forums:

Register now while it's still free!

Already a member? Close this window and log in.

Join Us             Close