Challenge a design before committing
Compare the failure concerns behind alternatives while changes are still practical. Make the study boundary clear enough that reviewers know which conditions it covers.
Windchill Risk and Reliability
Understand the risk.Engineer the response.
Bring failure analysis into the product conversation. Choose the right method, make assumptions visible and connect the evidence to the design under review.
Discuss your reliability questionWhat is Windchill Risk and Reliability?A failure is an event.
A failure is an event.
Reliability is a discipline.
Windchill Risk and Reliability is a suite of engineering analysis tools for studying failure, system behavior and product life. It brings different reliability methods into a common working environment.
The useful starting point is a specific engineering question: a potential failure, an architecture choice or a pattern in test and field records. The method and the quality of its inputs determine what the analysis can tell you.
Explore the Windchill product foundationAn illustrative design question
A team comparing two cooling arrangements needs more than a component failure rate. It must agree the operating conditions, the function that must be preserved and how dependent failures will be treated.
Make analysis useful to a decisionExpose the assumptions.
Expose the assumptions.
Strengthen the review.
A reliability study should help people judge a design choice, not simply produce another report. Use these outcomes to shape the review you want to support.
Keep the reasoning reviewable
Retain the inputs, assumptions and evidence behind a conclusion. A later reviewer should be able to distinguish a changed design from a changed modeling choice.
Turn experience into the next question
Use test observations and reported failures to decide what needs investigation. Separate the signal in the evidence from conclusions that still require engineering judgment.
Choose by the question, not the acronymDifferent questions.
Different questions.
Purposeful analysis methods.
These methods look at reliability from different directions. Open a reading to see the question it addresses and the inputs worth bringing to a discussion. Confirm the modules, release and licenses for your proposed environment.
Reliability Prediction+
How might the parts contribute to failure?
Estimate reliability using prediction models and standards.
Bring the component information, environment and model basis. A prediction is an engineering estimate, not an observed field result.
FMEA+
What could fail, and what would it affect?
Review failure modes, effects and proposed controls.
Bring the function, failure concern and review criteria. Keep the reason for a proposed action visible, along with its owner.
Fault Tree Analysis+
Which events could lead to an unwanted outcome?
Build a top-down view of contributing events.
Define the top event and the logic behind its contributing conditions. Check dependencies before interpreting a result.
Reliability Block Diagram+
Which paths preserve the system function?
Represent functional paths and redundancy.
Bring the success criterion and the relationship between elements. A functional block is not necessarily a physical assembly.
Markov analysis+
How does the system move between states?
Study state changes in reliability and availability.
Agree the states, transition assumptions and repair behavior. Explain what the model deliberately leaves outside its boundary.
Weibull analysis+
What does the life data suggest?
Examine failure behavior from observed life data.
Bring the observation period, failure records and surviving units. Review how the data was collected before selecting a model.
Accelerated Life Testing+
What can a stressed test tell us about use?
Analyze test behavior under elevated stresses.
Bring the test conditions and proposed relationship to normal operation. That relationship needs technical justification.
FRACAS+
How will reported failures become reviewed actions?
Organize failure reporting, investigation and corrective work.
Define the report, cause investigation, action owner and effectiveness review. Closing a record should have an agreed meaning.
Life Cycle Cost+
How do design and support choices affect cost over time?
Study cost across acquisition, operation and support.
Bring the time horizon and cost assumptions. Use a common basis when comparing alternatives rather than treating one estimate as a price promise.
Connected engineering, with defined ownershipKeep the evidence close.
Keep the evidence close.
Keep responsibility clear.
PTC describes connections among reliability work, product configuration and systems models. Treat that as an integration scope to design and validate, with a named owner for every source and exchange.
- Product definition
- Identify the part, configuration and revision the study describes. Agree how a product change will be recognized and which analyses need review.
- Systems intent
- Relate the study to the intended function and operating boundary. Agree the model identifiers and meaning of exchanged information before connecting tools.
- Test and operational evidence
- Decide which observations return to the engineering process, how they are qualified and who accepts an update to the study.
Open interfaces and federated connections do not remove configuration work. Check supported interfaces, compatibility, permissions and synchronization rules; do not assume an automatic connection to every PLM or MBSE environment.
Start with one system boundary.
Bring one engineering question, a representative configuration, available failure or test records and the people who own them. Agree the method, acceptance criteria and review responsibility before expanding the study.
A focused application, not a universal modelDifferent operating lives.
Different operating lives.
Different reliability questions.
These illustrative starting questions show why context matters. The industry guides explain the wider product and business setting.
Aerospace & Defense
For a mission-critical function, define the operating profile and failure consequence before choosing the analysis boundary.
What must continue to work when one element fails?
Industrial machinery
For a machine expected to operate for years, examine the service conditions and repair strategy alongside the design.
Which assumptions about use and maintenance change the study?
Energy
For equipment with changing loads and access constraints, frame the duty cycle and the evidence available for a review.
Which operating conditions must the model represent?
Before choosing the toolkitClear questions.
Clear questions.
A practical starting point.
Use the first discussion to define the study, the evidence and the environment.
Which analysis method should we start with?+
Start with the decision and the evidence available. A prospective failure review, a system architecture question and a set of observed failures need different approaches; the method guide above separates those purposes.
Does this replace the PLM product definition?+
No. Reliability analysis and product-data ownership serve different purposes. Agree how the study identifies the relevant configuration and how changes are reviewed.
Are all modules and integrations included?+
Confirm the proposed modules, licenses, release and supported interfaces with TriStar. A product-family description does not establish the entitlement or compatibility of a specific installation.
Does an analysis guarantee reliability or compliance?+
No. Conclusions depend on the model boundary, evidence and assumptions. The responsible engineers still need to validate the approach and judge its suitability for the intended use.
What should we bring to an evaluation?+
One decision, one representative system or component, its operating conditions and the records you can use. Include the analysis owner and the people responsible for the source information.
Put the engineering question firstOne system.
One system.
A more useful reliability discussion.
Bring the decision, the operating context and the evidence you have. We’ll help scope a practical next step.
Talk to TriStar