Risk Priority Number for Bridge Failures

Abstract

One of the important and systematic methods that is used for the identification of failure of any system is the failure mode and effect analysis (FMEA). This is carried out through the identification of the most important causes of all the failure modes of a system under consideration. FMEA is based on the concepts of a probabilistic analysis. In the present study, a corresponding equivalent deterministic method has been developed in terms of a risk priority number (RPN) formulation with its application to bridge failures. The RPN will enable the practicing engineers to rank various bridge failures and take necessary steps to mitigate the associated risk.