the development of applications of model-based systems technology on a broad scale and, as a result, has produced some of the most advanced prototypes and products. In this article, we illustrate the features and benefits of model-based systems and qualitative modeling by prototypes and application systems that were developed in the automotive industry to support on-board diagnosis, design for ...

Even if the application developers produce software in accordance with the customer requirements, they cannot guarantee that the software will behave in a safe way during the lifetime of the software. We define a system as safe if the risks related to its use are judged to be acceptable [1]. Safety must not be confused with security which broadly is defined as keeping the system unavailable for...

The US Human Reliability Analysis (HRA) Empirical Study (referred to as the US Study in the article) was conducted to confirm and expand on the insights developed from the International HRA Empirical Study (referred to as the International Study). Similar to the International Study, the US Study evaluated the performance of different HRA methods by comparing method predictions to actual crew pe...

When building a control plan, we are always facing a threefold issue: Should we check product characteristics or process parameters? Where have we to place this check? Is our effort of control adapted; or is it undersized, oversized? Such as it is classically implemented, FMEA usually highlights the lacks and not the excess of controls, thus generating too heavy and usually too expensive a cont...

Abrasive waterjet cutting nowadays represents cold precise, computer controlled shape cutting without any strain [1, 2]. These attributes pose this technology to the position of permanent use in the future, that represents excellent perspective for expansion in volume sectors, especially there, where the materials with excellent utility properties are used [3, 4]. The AWJ technology is, under e...

This paper considers the application of functional modelling to the automated production of FMEAs for mechanical systems. We consider how a functional model can be generated algorithmically from the geometric and assembly data already present for a device in a CAD/CAM system. We present the functional model used for representing the mechanical system, and propose reasoning techniques that can b...

The constant growing importance of onboard diagnosis for automobiles demands a corresponding integration of diagnostic tasks in the entire design process. This report decribes the basic concepts worked out within the European project „Integrated Design Process for onboard Diagnosis“ (IDD), which show new solutions for a better integration of diagnosis related tasks, such as diagnosabilty analys...

The development of diagnostic software is very critical in current generation automotive systems. However, the activities related to diagnosis (e.g., FMEA generation, analysis of diagnosability, generation of software to be embedded in the ECU) are usually not supported by specialized tools and, as a consequence, not strictly integrated with other design phases (e.g., design of control and defi...

This document summarizes the suitable design strategies that have been followed (and exposed in the contractual deliverable 57) in order to meet the reliability and availability specifications for the XADS accelerator. The document describes also how these strategies can be applied in the different components, and how iterations can lead to reliability improvements. The Failure Mode and Effect ...

The saturation of the magnetic resonance of paramagnetic impurities in metallic hosts is investigated. The earlier work of N. Bloembergen is extended to metallic films of finite thickness. The absorption line shape and its derivative with respect to the static applied field are calculated. Comparison is made with the corresponding results for an insulating host, and suggestions are given as to ...