Failure Mode and Effect Analysis (FMEA)
FMEA is a systematic technique to identify the waysin which components or systems can fail to
perform to their design intent. The basic idea of FMEA is identifying causes or the ways in
which a system can fail (Failure Mode) and then identifying the consequence of such failures.
The consequences are identified in term of safety, reliability and environmental effect (Goble,
2005; Manan, 2005; IEC, 2008; Sutton, 2010).
FMECA (Failure Modes, Effects. and Criticality Analysis) is the extended model of FMEA, so
that each fault mode identified is ranked based on the combination of its probability and
consequences. This analysis is usually, qualitativeor semi-quantitative, but can be quantitative if
we use the actual failure rates. FMEA/ FMECA can beapplied during the design, manufacturing,
or executing phase of project life cycle, but as soon as the problem of system is identified,
changes are easier to implement (IEC, 2008).
FMEA is a down-top method, which in compare to the top-down methods such as Fault Tree
Analysis, can provide more details in risky situation. Therefore, top-down methods are more
appropriate to highlight the risky situation, whiledown-top methods are useful to investigate
more details (Goble, 2005; Manan, 2005; IEC, 2008; Sutton, 2010).
FMEA is typically carried out by team, who are specialist in the required field. The FMEA
includes following steps:
• List all component;
• Determine the failure modes for each component;
• Determine the effects of each failure mode;
• Determine the criticality of that failure;
• Identify the indications that the failure has occurred;
• Estimate the rates (either over time or per mission) for that failure mode; and
• Identify the failure compensation mechanisms.
FMEA is an efficient method to identify critical failure within a system. The main benefit of
FMEA is that, the system can change in the design stage to mitigate or reduce the likelihood of