Reliability databases in perspective

Concepts and methods used in designing modem RDB (reliability data banks) are reviewed. Taxonomies for failures and maintenance actions are not fully standardized and can cause confusion. Section II summarizes current usages. The structure of the raw data is identified as: component socket histories with competing risk. Successive sections discuss data-structure and operations on data, data analysis with and without competing risk, and the analysis of uncertainty. In the context of reliability data, the assumption that competing risks are s-independent is frequently unwarranted. Models for dependent competing risk are discussed, and illustrated with examples from pressure-relief-valve data at two Swedish nuclear-power stations