Fault Tree Analysis and Reliability Block Diagrams

Abstract

Fault tree analysis (FTA) strives to reveal all possible sources of critical failures. It starts from the most critical event ("top event") and looks at its reasons, and continues in this way backwards to the initial events leading finally to the failure. So-called fault tree, plotted using the symbols of Boolean algebra can then be used for the construction of a reliability block diagram, which serves for finding the critical way and probability of failure. The principle of Markov analysis is explained as well.