Design For Maintainability

Maintainability Design Features

Design Methods

1 Fault Isolation and Self-Diagnostics

• Diagnostics is process of locating the fault at the level in which restoration may be accomplished

• Diagnosis of failure with identification of fault is major task in repair process; often the longest task and the one having greatest variability in task times

2  Parts Standardization and Interchangeability

• Standardization results in reducing to a minimum the range of parts that must be maintained and stocked

• Interchangeability is a design policy that allows specified parts to be substituted within an assembly for any like part; requires both functional and physical substitutability

3  Modularization and Accessibility

• Modularization (packaging of components in self-contained functional units) facilitates maintenance

• Design for accessibility is concerned with the  configuration of the hardware down to the discard (replacement) level

4 Repair versus Replacement

• Indenture level is level at which it is no longer economical to repair the failed unit; instead the failed unit is discarded and replaced with a new one

• Decision criterion is most often an economical one