Happy’s Essential Skills: Failure Modes and Effects Analysis (FMEA)
April 6, 2016 | Happy HoldenEstimated reading time: 12 minutes
Figure 2: FMEA flow chart.
Steps in Performing FMEA
- Discuss and define system functional requirements (scope), including all modes of operation (list in order of decreasing importance). Is it for concept, system, design, process, product or service and customer needs?
- Develop a functional block diagram and a reliability block diagram (Figure 2) for each subassembly being analyzed.
- Define parameters and functions of each functional block required for successful operation of the system.
- Using the FMEA forms to document the further steps, identify potential failure modes for each of the functional blocks.
- Analyze system or subassembly functions affected by factors such as those in the list of FMEA considerations.
- Identify all possible causes for each failure mode of the functional block being analyzed. The causes must be detailed to the component level wherever possible. These are potential failure modes. If necessary, go back and rewrite the function with more detail to be sure the failure modes show a loss of that function.
- Identify all possible ways the failure modes could affect the functions of the higher level assemblies.
- Assign the frequency, criticality, and detection values for each failure mode. (Tables 1– 3)
- Obtain the RPN by multiplying the three values assigned in step 8. This priority number will allow us to focus on the most important failure modes first.
- Determine all the possible root causes and corrective actions for each failure mode, and update the design status as it progresses.
- Summarize the failure modes and corrective actions in order of decreasing RPN.
- Focus on eliminating at least the 50% of the failure modes with the highest RPN.
An example of a FMEA analysis is shown in Figure 3.
Page 3 of 5
Suggested Items
TactoTek Licenses IMSE Technology to Polestar for Sustainable Electronics Design Innovation
05/15/2024 | TactoTekPolestar, the Swedish electric performance car brand, and Finnish smart surface pioneer TactoTek, have entered a collaboration to explore integration of Injection Molded Structural Electronics (IMSE) technology into Polestar’s vehicle programs.
The Shaughnessy Report: Unlock Your High-speed Material Constraints
05/15/2024 | Andy Shaughnessy -- Column: The Shaughnessy ReportThe world of PCB materials used to be a fairly simple one. It was divided into two groups: the “traditional” laminates, often called FR-4, and the high-speed laminates developed especially for high-speed PCBs. These were two worlds that usually didn’t collide. But then traditional laminates started getting better, and high-speed designers and design engineers took notice and started to reconsider what FR-4 could be used for.
Standard of Excellence: Collaboration—The Right Path to Innovation
05/15/2024 | Anaya Vardya -- Column: Standard of ExcellenceNow more than ever, as new and innovative technologies for printed circuit boards are in demand, we need collaboration between PCB designers, fabricators, and assemblers. Close partnerships with PCB designers and assemblers are key to developing and producing PCBs with boards with new and innovative technology. These collaborative partnerships, along with the partnership with the end customers, are more critical than ever before.
A Potpourri of Design PD Classes
05/14/2024 |What is invention without innovation? What is innovation without capability? Kelly Dack addresses these questions and more in this review of the Professional Development courses at IPC APEX EXPO, including the flex course lead by "Flexperts" Mark Finstad and Nick Koop.
Real Time with… IPC APEX EXPO 2024: Precision Tools and Problem-solving With Perfect Point
05/14/2024 | Real Time with...IPC APEX EXPOIn an interview with Guest Editor Dan Beaulieu, Alex Girardot, a field applications engineer with Perfect Point, shares his experiences with precision tooling. Alex also discusses a challenging project involving thick boards and small diameter holes in which Carbonite tools with a hybrid design were used. They also discuss the trend toward smaller hole sizes.
Copyright © 2024 I-Connect007 | IPC Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
Log in