Risk assessment using design review based on failure mode

In order to improve sustainability of industrial applications, big efforts are underway to increase efficiency of electrical power transmission, power conversion, or power usage. The availability of electrical converters used in these applications is crucial for high efficiency. Therefore, risk assessment has to be performed during product development to improve their reliability. The method typically used is Failure Mode and Effects Analysis (FMEA). In this paper another method called Design Review Based on Failure Mode (DRBFM) is applied to a typical power converter and evaluated. The DRBFM approach used was found to be much more efficient, if the focus lies on the identification of the critical problems and on improvements. On the other hand, FMEA is the method of choice for focusing on a complete list of possible failures.