Introduction

Abstract

Given the large range of possible human actions, many specific procedures of FA are needed, starting with medical procedures for curing or preventing diseases (which are failures of the human body) and continuing with various procedures for avoiding the failure of technical systems. In this respect, the word 'reliability' has two meanings: first, it is the aim of diminishing or removing failures, and second, it is the property of any system (human or artefact) to function without failures, in some given conditions and for a given duration. In fact, FA is a component of reliability analysis. This idea will be detailed in the following pages.From the above, one can see that the first goal of this book is to present the basics of FA, which is considered the key action for solving reliability issues. But there is a second purpose, equally important: to promote the idea of reliability, to show the importance of this discipline and the necessity of supporting its goals in achieving a given level of reliability as a key characteristic of any product.Unfortunately, the first reliability issues were solved by statisticians, which led to a mathematical approach to reliability, predominant in the first 25-30 years of the modern history of the domain. Today other disciplines, such as physics and chemistry, are equally involved. All this issues are detailed in Section 1.2, where a short history of reliability as a discipline is presented.The mathematical approach was restrictive and created the incorrect impression that the aim of reliability analysis was to impede the work of real specialists, forcing them to undertake redesigns due to cryptic results that nobody could understand. Today this misapprehension has generally been overcome, but its after-effects are still present in the mentality of some specialists. We want to persuade component manufacturers that reliability engineers are their best friends, simulating the behaviour of their product in real-life conditions and then recommending necessary improvements before the product can be sold. Manufacturers and reliability engineers must form a team, with information flowing in both directions.Even more importantly, this book is aimed at showing to industry managers the reasons for taking reliability issues into account from the design phase onwards, through the whole cycle of development of a product. It has been proved that the only way to promote reliability requirements is top-down, starting with the manager and continuing down to every worker.The third goal of the book starts from our subjective approach to reliability. We think reliability is a beautiful domain, offering immense satisfaction to any specialist, and involving a large range of knowledge, from physics, chemistry and mathematics to all engineering disciplines. That is why strong interdisciplinary teams are needed to solve reliability issues, which are difficult challenges for the human mind.We want to show to young readers the beauty of reliability analysis, which can be compared to a simple mathematical ...