ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses a number of topics important to reliability analysis. Dependent failures are extremely important in reliability analysis and must be given adequate treatment so as to minimize gross overestimation of reliability. The major causes of dependence among a set of systems or components can be explicitly described and modeled by system reliability analysis models, such as fault trees. However, the rest of the causes can be collectively modeled using the concept of common cause failures (CCFs). Single parameter models are those that use one parameter in addition to the total component failure probability to calculate the CCF probabilities. Multiple parameter models are used to get a more accurate assessment of CCF frequencies in systems with a higher level of redundancy. These models have several parameters that are usually associated with different event characteristics. The reliability-centered maintenance (RCM) methodology is a systematic approach directed towards defining and developing applicable and effective preventive maintenance (PM) strategies.
