The Reliability Engineering Glossary
Reliability engineering and related fields use a vocabulary unique to our field of endeavor. For example, the term ‘reliability’ has the meaning of ‘trustworthy’ in everyday English use. For us, ‘reliability’ has a precise engineering definition.
Glossary description and plans
This glossary is meant to help us learn the language of reliability engineering. The category of ‘Terms’ is like a dictionary, including terms and their definitions as used by engineers. The category of ‘Methods’ is a listing of the techniques, tools, approaches, or concepts that may be found within a reliability plan. In the near future, we expect to expand the ‘Methods’ pages to include guidelines on use or application, examples, and additional references.
We also plan to expand the glossary to include formulas and failure mechanisms. Please let us know if there is another list of terms that should be added if you do not find a term that should be included or if you would like to recommend a change to an existing entry.
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- F ratioA statistic representing the mathematical ratio of the between-group mean square error to the within-group mean square error for a set of data used to assess the probability of random occurrence at a selected level of confidence. Read More
- Factor"In design of experiment it is the feature or characteristic under examination as a potential variation cause." Read More
- Factor effectA factor that exerts some influence on the response variable. The effects may include main, dispersion and confounded effects. Read More
- Factor levelIn design of experiments, the setting, value, or assignment of a factor. Read More
- Factor of SafetyA ratio of an item’s absolute strength to the actual applied load. It expresses how much stronger a system is than it needs to be for an intended load. Also known as Design Margin or Safety Factor. Read More
- Factorial experimentA designed experiment which has one or more factors and at least two levels applied for one factor. A full factorial experiment with k factors, each at n levels. nk Read More
- Factorial experiment, 2kA full factorial experiment with k factors, each at two levels. 2k Read More
- Factorial experiment 2k-p fractionalA fractional factorial experiment with a size that is 2-p faction of the 2k factorial experiment size. 2k-p fractional Read More
- Factorial experiment, fractionalA factorial experiment using a subset of the full factorial experiment. Read More
- Factorial experiment, fullA factorial experiment with all possible combinations of the factor levels. Read More
- Fail-operational systemA system whose complete functional capability remains available to the equipment without interruption when failures occur within it. Read More
- Fail-safe systemA system whose function is replicated, so that the function will still be available to the equipment after failure of one of its sources. Read More
- FailureThe event, or inoperable state, in which any item or part of an item does not perform as previously specified. An unsatisfactory condition; any identifiable deviation of the condition or performance capability of an item from its new state that is unsatisfactory to a particular operating(...) Read More
- Failure analysis (FA)Subsequent to a failure, the logical systematic examination of an item, its construction, application, and documentation to identify the failure and determine the failure mechanism and its basic cause. FA provides the necessary information to identify suitable short-term and long-term(...) Read More
- Failure analysis capabilityThe combination of equipment, trained personnel, and procedures and their ability to effectively determine the root cause of a failure. Read More
- Failure, catastrophicA failure that can cause loss of the item, human life, or serious collateral damage to property. Read More
- Failure causeThe initiating physical process which creates the failure mechanism. Read More
- Failure censoringCensoring that occurs when testing is ended after a predetermined number of failures precluding knowing when the remaining units fail; the time of the last failure is equal to the censoring time. (Type II) Read More
- Failure consequence and liability managementAn informal or formal process within an organization used to assess potential adverse risks related to product use, misuse, or failure and the potential consequences to the customer, environment, and organization. This process may include legal reviews, insurance policies, and responses or(...) Read More
- Failure, criticalA failure, or combination of failures, that prevents an item from performing a specified mission. Read More
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