System Reliability Investigation of Draglines Using Fault Tree Analysis

Abstract

Functionality and reliability of a system can be investigated by fault tree analysis (FTA) which is a structured and deductive procedure frequently exploited in complex systems. This analysis technique is related to Boolean algebra and probability theory in capable of qualifying and quantifying the system failure behavior by utilizing basic symbols and probabilistic relations. In this manner, internal and external causes of failures which come out in the working elements of draglines and their occurrence probabilities can be also analyzed by FTA. This research study examines and evaluates the connections between prior and superior failures in dragline components which eventuate in different sub-systems of dragline and their contributions to overall system reliability using FTA. The study utilizes real-time failure data of two different draglines gathered by the technical staff in a coal mine site owned by Turkish Coal Enterprise (TKİ).