View non-flash version
July 2013 www.sname.org/sname/mt move into the topics of life data analysis; load- strength interference; prediction and modeling; design; testing; demonstration and growth; manufacturing; and maintenance. e mate- rial is relevant to any product design, whether mechanical or electrical, from simple, dispos- able components to highly complex systems with long service lives. And each well-written chapter builds upon each previous chapter, cov- ering the material thoroughly and presenting examples that are both insightful and germane. Consider all of this from the standpoint of a customer. On the one hand, a cus- tomer typically values increased levels of product reliability. On the other hand, bud- gets are tight and pockets are only so deep. But with the right engineering knowledge, one quickly learns that increasing levels of product reliability do not necessarily mean higher costs; just think of consumer elec- tronics. Having the ability to dene loads and strengths both probabilistically and accurately enables products to be designed without unnecessarily conservative margins. And correcting for the misappli- cation or over-application of redundancy can result in systems that comprise fewer components, have greater reliability, and actually cost less. With the correct knowl- edge and insight available from Practical Reliability Engineering , it becomes obvious that less can, in fact, be more for everyone. For those who are familiar with ear- lier editions of the book, this fth edition corrects many annoying typographical errors. In addition, it introduces a brand new chapter on the application of Monte Carlo simulations to the eld of reliability engineering using common software, show- ing readers the basics of creating models to analyze systems of any level of complex- ity. This new chapter will not intimidate anyone, and is useful for both experts and those who are complete novices in the eld. Although designed for an academic setting, this book is suitable for any engi-neer interested in self learning. In fact, any engineer who invests the time to read this book will delight both his or her supervisors and customers by being better equipped to design systems and components that are more reliable. MT David A. Breslin is a PE and a member of SNAME, teach- es reliability engineering and operations research for the United States Merchant Marine Academy, and is a marine engineer for the United States Navy.