There are Alternatives to using MTBFJust a quick note this week to pass along a message from Michael. He’s conducted a bit of research on Mean Cumulative Function and found a few papers. And, according to Michael’s request I’m working on a short introductory tutorial for those new to MCF. Michael’s messageFred, as we began to look at alternatives, you might want to publish on your NoMTBF site a very detailed post about the use of the Mean Cumulative Function (MCF). There are models that employ an intensity function that quantify the adaqueacy of repair. I’ve found a couple of very well written papers on this. See the links below. http://www.trindade.com/MCFAvail-JSM.pdf http://www.trindade.com/2006RM-035_draft.pdf For a more scholarly read with discussions about varying degrees of repair (i.e as good as new etc.) see this link: http://www.geniemeca.fpms.ac.be/Recherche/Articles/basi2004.pdf Also see this paper wherein the USAF has determined that the MTBF is not a viable means of measuring reliability. http://www.dtic.mil/dtic/tr/fulltext/u2/a565532.pdf /r Michael |
thanks Michael and all others that have contributed to the eradication of MTBF.