• Proceedings of the KSR Conference
• /
• 2003.10a
• /
• pp.27-43
• /
• 2003

Reliability Lifecycle from Concept to In-Service Operation and Maintenance. Reliability management must consider - SAFETY - SERVICE REQUIREMENTS. Reliability targets/objectives can be specified at feasibility stage. Reliability analysis to support design process. Reliability assessment to support reliability growth or contractual demonstration. Maintenance optimisation to improve reliability during lifetime of operation. Lessons learnt incorporated into next generation of trains.

• The Transactions of the Korean Institute of Power Electronics
• /
• v.27 no.6
• /
• pp.535-540
• /
• 2022

DC-link capacitors are reliability-critical components in a photovoltaic (PV) inverter. Typically, the lifetime of a DC-link capacitor is evaluated by considering the voltage and hot-spot temperature of the capacitor under the specific operating condition of the PV inverter. However, the output of the PV inverter is determined by solar irradiation and ambient temperature, which vary with the seasons; accordingly, the hot-spot temperature of the capacitor also changes. Therefore, the mission profile of the PV system should be considered to effectively evaluate the reliability of the DC-link capacitor. In this study, the reliability of the DC-link capacitor of a three-level NPC inverter is comparatively analyzed with and without considering the mission profiles of the PV system, where two mission profiles recorded in Arizona and Iza are considered. The accumulated damage of the DC-link capacitor is calculated based on the lifetime model by analyzing its thermal loading. Afterward, a reliability evaluation of the DC-link capacitor is performed at the component level and then at the system level by considering all capacitors by means of Monte Carlo analysis. Results reveal the importance of performing a mission-profile-based reliability evaluation during the design of high-reliability PV inverters to achieve the target reliability performance.

• Journal of Applied Reliability
• /
• v.2 no.2
• /
• pp.113-119
• /
• 2002

The estimation of mean lifetimes in presence of interval censoring with replacement procedure are examined when the distributions of lifetimes are exponential. It is assumed that, due to physical restrictions and/or economic constraints, the number of failures is investigated only at several inspection times during the lifetime test. The maximum likelihood estimator is found in an implicit form. The Cramer-Rao lower bounds of the estimates are found in places of variances and by simulations the properties of the estimates are examined.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
• /
• v.75 no.4
• /
• pp.455-464
• /
• 2020

Reinforcement corrosion is one of the major problems in the durability of reinforced concrete structures exposed to aggressive environments. Deterioration caused by reinforcement corrosion reduces the durability and the safety margin of concrete structures, causing excessive costs in managing these structures safely. This paper aims to investigate the effects of reinforcement corrosion on the load bearing capacity deterioration of the corroded reinforced concrete structures. A new analytical method is proposed to predict the crack growth of cover concrete and evaluate the residual strength of concrete structures with corroded reinforcement failing in bond. The structural performance indicators, such as concrete crack growth and flexural strength deterioration rate, are assumed to be a stochastic process for lifetime distribution modelling of structural performance deterioration over time during the life cycle. The Weibull life evolution model is employed for analysing lifetime reliability and estimating remaining useful life of the corroded concrete structures. The results for the worked example show that the proposed approach can provide a reliable method for lifetime performance assessment of the corroded reinforced concrete structures.

• Computers and Concrete
• /
• v.17 no.4
• /
• pp.499-521
• /
• 2016

In this paper, a probabilistic- and finite element-based approach to evaluate and predict the lifetime performance of reinforced concrete (RC) bridges undergoing various maintenance actions is proposed with the time-variant system reliability being utilized as a performance indicator. Depending on their structural state during the degradation process, the classical maintenance actions for RC bridges are firstly categorized into four types: Preventive type I, Preventive type II, Strengthening and Replacement. Preventive type I is used to delay the onset of steel corrosion, Preventive type II can suppress the corrosion process of reinforcing steel, Strengthening is the application of various maintenance materials to improve the structural performance and Replacement is performed to restore the individual components or overall structure to their original conditions. The quantitative influence of these maintenance types on structural performance is investigated and the respective analysis modules are written and inputted into the computer program. Accordingly, the time-variant system reliability can be calculated by the use of Monte Carlo simulations and the updated the program. Finally, an existing RC continuous bridge located in Shanghai, China, is used as an illustrative example and the lifetime structural performance with and without each of the maintenance types are discussed. It is felt that the proposed approach can be applied to various RC bridges with different structural configurations, construction methods and environmental conditions.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
• /
• v.53 no.6
• /
• pp.1183-1200
• /
• 2015

Reinforcement corrosion can cause serious safety deterioration to aging concrete structures exposed in aggressive environments. This paper presents an approach for reliability analyses of deteriorating reinforced concrete structures affected by reinforcement corrosion on the basis of the representative symptoms identified during the deterioration process. The concrete cracking growth and rebar bond strength evolution due to reinforcement corrosion are chosen as key symptoms for the performance deterioration of concrete structures. The crack width at concrete cover surface largely depends on the corrosion penetration of rebar due to the expansive rust layer at the bond interface generated by reinforcement corrosion. The bond strength of rebar in the concrete correlates well with concrete crack width and decays steadily with crack width growth. The estimates of cracking development and bond strength deterioration are examined by experimental data available from various sources, and then matched with symptom-based lifetime Weibull model. The symptom reliability and remaining useful life are predicted from the predictive lifetime Weibull model for deteriorating concrete structures. Finally, a numerical example is provided to demonstrate the applicability of the proposed approach for forecasting the performance of concrete structures subject to reinforcement corrosion. The results show that the corrosion rate has significant impact on the reliability associated with serviceability and load bearing capacity of reinforced concrete structures during their service life.

• Journal of Applied Reliability
• /
• v.4 no.2
• /
• pp.73-90
• /
• 2004

We performed the heat aging test to predict the useful lifetime of Elastomeric Bearing Chloroprene Rubber (CR) used for supporting bridge. During the test, we measured elongation that are influenced by temperature and aging time. The failure of a test piece is defined as the point at which the elongation reaches to 75% of the initial value. This failure criterion is based on KS F 4420: 1998 (Elastomeric Bearing for bridge). Through the accelerated heat aging test, we found that the Arrhenius relationship and the Weibull lifetime distribution are appropriate as the life-temperature relationship and lifetime distribution of the CR, respectively. Using the Arrhenius -Weibull model, the parameters of the model are estimated and the lifetime of the CR at use condition is predicted.

• Korean Journal of Air-Conditioning and Refrigeration Engineering
• /
• v.19 no.4
• /
• pp.313-320
• /
• 2007

In this paper, the experimental study has been carried out to investigate the reliability lifetime of two bearing units based on the oil temperature. Measurements for the oil temperature as well as the bearing temperature during normal operation were performed to study the effects of oil viscosity and oil submergence percentages in the two bearing units. The optimal lubrication condition to increase the lifetime of the bearing unit A was found that its viscosity and submergence percentage were VG32 and 25%, respectively. For the bearing unit B, when the oil viscosity and submergence percent were VG32 and 75%, the lubrication condition was the most efficient. Finally, the adjusted rating times of both the bearing units were calculated to be over 28,000 h, which is greater than the minimum adjusted rating times of 25,000 h. Therefore, they satisfied the regulated lifetime of API 610.

• International Journal of Reliability and Applications
• /
• v.2 no.3
• /
• pp.189-197
• /
• 2001

The estimation of mean lifetimes in presence of interval censoring with mixed replacement procedure is examined when the distributions of lifetimes are exponential. It is assumed that, due to physical restrictions and/or economic constraints, the number of failures is investigated only at several inspection times during the lifetime test; thus there is interval censoring. The maximum likelihood estimator is found in an implicit form. The Cramor-Rao lower bound, which is the asymptotic variance of the estimator, is derived. The estimation of mean lifetimes for competing failures model has been expanded.

• Journal of the Korea Safety Management & Science
• /
• v.9 no.2
• /
• pp.85-95
• /
• 2007

Because the damages of corrosion resulting from the chloride ion are very serious, many research studies have been performed to measure the penetration depth of the chloride ion. However, there is a problem with data selection obtained from collection during experiments. After careful study, it appears that the collected data are not conformed to a normal distribution. The result of this study will play a very important role, as a first step for the development and construction of a forecasting system to help determine a reliable service lifetime of marine structures.