Fault Tree Approach for the Reliability Analysis of Gear Trains

Abstract

The application of fault tree techniques to the analysis of gear trains is considered. The techniques involve the decomposition of the system into a logic diagram or fault tree in which certain basic or primary events lead to a specified top event which signifies the total failure of the system. The fault trees are used to obtain minimal cut sets from which the modes of system failure and, hence, the reliability measure for the top event can be calculated. The method of constructing fault trees and the subsequent estimation of reliability of the system is illustrated through a nine speed compound gear train and a five speed epicyclic gear train.