Fault Tree Analysis (FTA)

Definition

Fault tree analysis (FTA) is the safety engineering technique that uses backward searching of decision trees to TBD.

Discussion

TBD

Objectives

The typical objectives of fault tree analysis are to:

• TBD

Preconditions

Fault tree analysis can typically begin when the following preconditions hold:

• Most of the architecture and design (including safeguards) of the system must be complete.
• The safety engineers performing the fault tree analysis must either fully understand the architecture and design or else have significant access to subject matter experts who do.

Completion Criteria

Fault tree analysis is typically complete if the following postconditions hold:

• Fault trees have been produced for all initiating failure faults that may result in significant accidents.

Steps

When using the fault tree analysis technique, the safety team typically performs the following steps in an iterative, incremental, and parallel manner:

1. TBD

Work Products

Fault tree analysis typically results in the following work products:

• Multiple fault trees

Limitations

Fault tree analysis is typically subject to the following limitations:

• TBD

Guidelines

• Use event tree analysis to decompose the problem into parts that are small enough to be analyzable using fault tree analysis.
• TBD