Fault Tree Analysis
Prepared by:
Team of Lecturers
Department of Electrical Engineering
Definition
Fault trees were created as a qualitative tool to help identify design problems in
complex systems.
A fault tree is very good at pinpointing weaknesses in a system and helps identify which
parts of a system are related to a particular failure.
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Fault Tree Process
When FTA is applied to system design, the process starts by identifying a problem, or
“system failure event.” The engineer must then study the system operation and develop
a good understanding of how the system is supposed to work.
For each item identified, the
process continues until
trigger events or basic faults
are identified on the chart.
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Example of Fault Tree
System Failure Event
Logic Gates
Trigger Events Basic Faults
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Fault Tree Symbols
Example the utilization of
inhibit gate
Functionally similar to a
two-input AND gate
except that it indicates an
event that is not
necessarily a direct
cause
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Additional Fault Tree Symbols
These two symbols (transfer in &
transfer out) can be used when
drawing on multiple sheets
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More Complex System
Power System Fault Tree
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Quantitative Fault Tree Analysis
A fault tree can be used as quantitative probability analysis tool. Probabilities are assigned
to basic faults and trigger events. The rules of probability are used to combine these
numbers.
One of the methods used in quantitative analysis is a Gate Solution method. This is a
method combining the probabilities of the gate inputs using simple rules of probability.
Only two fundamental rules are needed, those are AND (multiply) and OR gate (add).
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Solve a problem using AND gate
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Solve a problem using OR gate
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References
Goble, W. M. (2010). Control Systems Safety Evaluation and Reliability (3th ed.). International
Society of Automation.
Thank You
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