Application of Failure Modes and Effects Analysis in the Engineering Design Process

Abstract: Failure modes and effects analysis (FMEA) is one of the most practical design tools implemented in the product design to analyze the possible failures and to improve the design. The use of FMEA is diversified, and different approaches are proposed by various organizations and researchers from one application to another. The question is how to use the features of FMEA along with the design process. This research focuses on different types of FMEA in the design process, which is considered as the mapping between customer requirements, design components, and product functions. These three elements of design are the foundation of the integration model proposed in this research. The objective of this research is to understand an integrated approach of FMEA in the design process. Significantly, an integration framework is developed to integrate the design process and FMEA. Then, a step-by-step FMEA-facilitated design process is proposed to apply FMEA along with the design process.