Fault tree analysis

A fault tree diagram

Fault tree analysis (FTA) is a type of failure analysis in which an undesired state of a system is examined. This analysis method is mainly used in safety engineering and reliability engineering to understand how systems can fail, to identify the best ways to reduce risk and to determine (or get a feeling for) event rates of a safety accident or a particular system level (functional) failure. FTA is used in the aerospace,[1] nuclear power, chemical and process,[2][3][4] pharmaceutical,[5] petrochemical and other high-hazard industries; but is also used in fields as diverse as risk factor identification relating to social service system failure.[6] FTA is also used in software engineering for debugging purposes and is closely related to cause-elimination technique used to detect bugs.

In aerospace, the more general term "system failure condition" is used for the "undesired state" / top event of the fault tree. These conditions are classified by the severity of their effects. The most severe conditions require the most extensive fault tree analysis. These system failure conditions and their classification are often previously determined in the functional hazard analysis.

  1. ^ Goldberg, B. E.; Everhart, K.; Stevens, R.; Babbitt, N.; Clemens, P.; Stout, L. (1994). "3". System engineering toolbox for design-oriented engineers. Marshall Space Flight Center. pp. 3–35 to 3–48.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  2. ^ Center for Chemical Process Safety (April 2008). Guidelines for Hazard Evaluation Procedures (3rd ed.). Wiley. ISBN 978-0-471-97815-2.
  3. ^ Center for Chemical Process Safety (October 1999). Guidelines for Chemical Process Quantitative Risk Analysis (2nd ed.). American Institute of Chemical Engineers. ISBN 978-0-8169-0720-5.
  4. ^ U.S. Department of Labor Occupational Safety and Health Administration (1994). Process Safety Management Guidelines for Compliance (PDF). U.S. Government Printing Office. OSHA 3133.
  5. ^ ICH Harmonised Tripartite Guidelines. Quality Guidelines (January 2006). Q9 Quality Risk Management.
  6. ^ Lacey, Peter (2011). "An Application of Fault Tree Analysis to the Identification and Management of Risks in Government Funded Human Service Delivery". Proceedings of the 2nd International Conference on Public Policy and Social Sciences. SSRN 2171117.