This methodology could help “guide” your operations to the top.
Using FunctionalAnalysis For Improved
Troubleshooting
JULY 2005 www.pump-zone.com PUMPS & SYSTEMS22
The troubleshooting guide created by the Failure Modesand Effects Analysis (FMEA) portion of ReliabilityCentered Maintenance (RCM) activities is a valuable
side benefit of the process. Just how important can these guidesbe in building higher levels of equipment availability, and howdo you turn the FMEA into such a tool? Moreover, how cansmaller facilities accomplish the functional analysis necessary tocreate troubleshooting guides of their own?
The troubleshooting guide created by the Failure Modesand Effects Analysis (FMEA) portion of ReliabilityCentered Maintenance (RCM) activities is a valuable
side benefit of the process. Just how important can these guidesbe in building higher levels of equipment availability, and howdo you turn the FMEA into such a tool? Moreover, how cansmaller facilities accomplish the functional analysis necessary tocreate troubleshooting guides of their own?
Using FunctionalAnalysis For Improved
Troubleshooting By Bill Keeter, ARMS Reliability Engineers – USA, INC.
Synapse Prepare Banta_081804:Banta_PDF_081804 QuarkXPressª Settings: Composite_PSQuarkXPressª settings can't be modified by the userDistiller Job Options: Creo PDF Pages.joboptionsPitStop Profile: Banta_081804.pppPitStop Actions: SynapseLogo.ealUser can add info annotations into resulting PDFDistiller annotations will be added into resulting PDFJob Info annotations will be added into resulting PDFDirective annotations will be added into resulting PDF�
Job Name: Job Number: Proof Due: Thu, Aug 12, 2004Final Due: Thu, Aug 12, 2004Company: PUMPS&SYSTEMS 205-989-7287Contact: Lori SmithAddress: City: BirminghamState: AL Zip: Country: Cell Phone: 205-427-0634Email: lorismithdesign1@charter.net�
Synapse Prepare Banta_081804:Banta_PDF_081804 QuarkXPressª Settings: Composite_PSQuarkXPressª settings can't be modified by the userDistiller Job Options: Creo PDF Pages.joboptionsPitStop Profile: Banta_081804.pppPitStop Actions: SynapseLogo.ealUser can add info annotations into resulting PDFDistiller annotations will be added into resulting PDFJob Info annotations will be added into resulting PDFDirective annotations will be added into resulting PDF�
Job Name: Job Number: Proof Due: Thu, Aug 12, 2004Final Due: Thu, Aug 12, 2004Company: PUMPS&SYSTEMS 205-989-7287Contact: Lori SmithAddress: City: BirminghamState: AL Zip: Country: Cell Phone: 205-427-0634Email: lorismithdesign1@charter.net�
Synapse Prepare Banta_081804:Banta_PDF_081804 QuarkXPressª Settings: Composite_PSQuarkXPressª settings can't be modified by the userDistiller Job Options: Creo PDF Pages.joboptionsPitStop Profile: Banta_081804.pppPitStop Actions: SynapseLogo.ealUser can add info annotations into resulting PDFDistiller annotations will be added into resulting PDFJob Info annotations will be added into resulting PDFDirective annotations will be added into resulting PDF�
Job Name: Job Number: Proof Due: Thu, Aug 12, 2004Final Due: Thu, Aug 12, 2004Company: PUMPS&SYSTEMS 205-989-7287Contact: Lori SmithAddress: City: BirminghamState: AL Zip: Country: Cell Phone: 205-427-0634Email: lorismithdesign1@charter.net�
JULY 2005 www.pump-zone.com PUMPS & SYSTEMS26
Figure 5.Pump failure modes
About ARMS Reliability EngineersSince opening its first office in Melbourne, Australia,10 years ago, ARMS Reliability Engineers has
been dedicated to helping businesses align their asset management strategies to their business goals by
using proven Reliability Engineering Methods and powerful simulation software. Today, from offices in
the U.S. and Canada, as well as Australia, ARMS provides support for Reliability Centered Maintenance,
Availability Simulation and Modeling and Rapid Reliability Assessment. The company’s staff of experi-
enced engineers comes from a wide variety of industries, including mining, petroleum, chemicals and
continuous process manufacturing.
For more information, you can visit ARMS on the web at www.armsus.com or
www.reliability.com.au. Or, depending on your location and needs, call one of the following numbers:
Synapse Prepare Banta_081804:Banta_PDF_081804 QuarkXPressª Settings: Composite_PSQuarkXPressª settings can't be modified by the userDistiller Job Options: Creo PDF Pages.joboptionsPitStop Profile: Banta_081804.pppPitStop Actions: SynapseLogo.ealUser can add info annotations into resulting PDFDistiller annotations will be added into resulting PDFJob Info annotations will be added into resulting PDFDirective annotations will be added into resulting PDF�
Job Name: Job Number: Proof Due: Thu, Aug 12, 2004Final Due: Thu, Aug 12, 2004Company: PUMPS&SYSTEMS 205-989-7287Contact: Lori SmithAddress: City: BirminghamState: AL Zip: Country: Cell Phone: 205-427-0634Email: lorismithdesign1@charter.net�
provide the most effective means
of fault-finding when a system
has failed. The problem with this
situation is twofold. People don’t
have infinite memories—and
craft personnel are often con-
fronted with failures in equip-
ment on which they have worked
infrequently.
Creating a BasicTroubleshootingGuide
A facility can be brokendown into a functional hierarchylike the one shown in Figure 2.Each item of equipment in thefacility has a function that can be
lost due to failures in its compo-nents. The purpose of the func-tional analysis is to determine thefailure modes or failed parts thathave created the loss of function.
The FunctionalAnalysis
If we think about equipmentfailures in terms of lost function,it quickly becomes apparent thata functional analysis of theequipment will yield a good basictroubleshooting guide for use bycraft personnel. Functional anal-ysis considers the structure, func-tions, functional failures and fail-ure modes of the equipment. Thefunctions of a pump might look
something like what is shown inFigure 3.
For each function there isone or more functional failuresthat describe the loss of the item’sintended functions. A list offunctional failures may be likethe ones shown in Figure 4.
For each functional failurethere will be one or more failuremodes, like those in Figure 5,that are represented by failedcomponents or operating errors,such as putting valves in thewrong position.
The pump failure modes arethe basis for the creation of thetroubleshooting guide. The func-tional structure can be put into a
Synapse Prepare Banta_081804:Banta_PDF_081804 QuarkXPressª Settings: Composite_PSQuarkXPressª settings can't be modified by the userDistiller Job Options: Creo PDF Pages.joboptionsPitStop Profile: Banta_081804.pppPitStop Actions: SynapseLogo.ealUser can add info annotations into resulting PDFDistiller annotations will be added into resulting PDFJob Info annotations will be added into resulting PDFDirective annotations will be added into resulting PDF�
Job Name: Job Number: Proof Due: Thu, Aug 12, 2004Final Due: Thu, Aug 12, 2004Company: PUMPS&SYSTEMS 205-989-7287Contact: Lori SmithAddress: City: BirminghamState: AL Zip: Country: Cell Phone: 205-427-0634Email: lorismithdesign1@charter.net�
spreadsheet like the one in Table 2, so that field personnelcan filter on functional failure todetermine potential failuremodes or causes for the loss offunction. The result might besomething like Table 3.
Synapse Prepare Banta_081804:Banta_PDF_081804 QuarkXPressª Settings: Composite_PSQuarkXPressª settings can't be modified by the userDistiller Job Options: Creo PDF Pages.joboptionsPitStop Profile: Banta_081804.pppPitStop Actions: SynapseLogo.ealUser can add info annotations into resulting PDFDistiller annotations will be added into resulting PDFJob Info annotations will be added into resulting PDFDirective annotations will be added into resulting PDF�
Job Name: Job Number: Proof Due: Thu, Aug 12, 2004Final Due: Thu, Aug 12, 2004Company: PUMPS&SYSTEMS 205-989-7287Contact: Lori SmithAddress: City: BirminghamState: AL Zip: Country: Cell Phone: 205-427-0634Email: lorismithdesign1@charter.net�
Synapse Prepare Banta_081804:Banta_PDF_081804 QuarkXPressª Settings: Composite_PSQuarkXPressª settings can't be modified by the userDistiller Job Options: Creo PDF Pages.joboptionsPitStop Profile: Banta_081804.pppPitStop Actions: SynapseLogo.ealUser can add info annotations into resulting PDFDistiller annotations will be added into resulting PDFJob Info annotations will be added into resulting PDFDirective annotations will be added into resulting PDF�
Job Name: Job Number: Proof Due: Thu, Aug 12, 2004Final Due: Thu, Aug 12, 2004Company: PUMPS&SYSTEMS 205-989-7287Contact: Lori SmithAddress: City: BirminghamState: AL Zip: Country: Cell Phone: 205-427-0634Email: lorismithdesign1@charter.net�