Failure mode

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Categories: Terms

The observable consequence of the mechanism through which the failure occurs, i.e., short, open, fracture, excessive wear, etc.

Failure mode and effects analysis
A qualitative and systematic analysis method intended to identify, prioritize, and reduce technical risks of failures to an acceptable level, with emphasis on improving product design or manufacturing process. FMEA is a structured process used to identify and prioritize potential failure modes that should receive an appropriate level of mitigation (elimination, reduction, or prevention).
Pareto analysis
A graphical display of count, frequency or percentages of failure modes, mechanisms, or sources of variation ordered from highest to lowest contribution to overall product or system issues. A Pareto analysis provides an simple method for an organization to identify the costliest or most often occurring events.
Improvable failure rate
The difference between the failure rate of an item on newly designed equipment and the expected failure rate after product improvement to eliminate dominant failure modes; this reduction in the failure rate is generally exponential and can be predicted from early failure data.
Critical failure mode
A failure mode whose ultimate effect can be a critical failure.
Criticality
A relative measure of the consequence and frequency of occurrence of a failure mode.