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| In this
issue: |
Issue
15, May 2002 |
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Reliability HotWire is a service of ReliaSoft
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| Hot Topics |
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The Generalized Gamma
Distribution and Reliability Analysis
The Weibull life distribution has long been used for most life data
analysis problems. The main reason for the distribution's popularity
is the versatility it provides, i.e. the Weibull distribution can
take on the characteristics of other types of distributions, based on the
value of the shape parameter, beta. The generalized gamma
distribution is also a flexible distribution, and in fact contains
the exponential, Weibull, lognormal and gamma distributions as special
cases. ReliaSoft's Weibull++ 6
software also includes a Generalized Gamma distribution option (when
used in the Expert mode). We will use this article to explore the
generalized gamma distribution and its relation to other lifetime
distributions.
To
read more, see http://www.weibull.com/hotwire/issue15/hottopics15.htm
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| Reliability
Basics |
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| The
purpose of this section is to offer background and advice to the novice
reliability engineer.
Location Parameter of the Weibull Distribution
In last month's issue of Reliability HotWire, we had a
detailed look at the Weibull distribution, which included the
characteristics of the estimated parameters, beta and eta.
However, the location parameter, gamma,
was not discussed in much detail. In many cases, the location parameter
may be
assumed to be zero, but in this month's issue we will take a closer look at the the location parameter
and how/when to use the 3-parameter Weibull distribution.
To read more, see http://www.weibull.com/hotwire/issue15/relbasics15.htm
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| Tool
Tips |
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The
Tool Tips section addresses helpful hints and frequently asked questions
about ReliaSoft software products.
To read more, see http://www.weibull.com/hotwire/issue15/tooltips15.htm
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| Hot
News |
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Reliability
Training Seminars - Upcoming
ReliaSoft public reliability training seminars include:
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Master the Subject, Master the Tools
training seminar for life data analysis, accelerated
life data analysis and system reliability: May 20 - 24, 2002
in Tucson, Arizona. For more information, see http://www.ReliaSoft.com/seminars/master.htm. |
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QALT
Boot Camp
intensive three day course on
advanced topics, concepts and applications of quantitative
accelerated life testing (QALT), such as time-varying stress,
multiple stress testing and ReliaSoft's ALTA PRO software: June 26-28,
2002 in Tucson, Arizona. For more information, see http://www.ReliaSoft.com/seminars/qalt.htm. |
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ReliaSoft
at the SAE TOPTEC - ReliaSoft will be participating at SAE
International's TOPTEC workshop to be held May 7-8, 2002 at the
Westin Southfield Hotel in Southfield, Michigan.
This two day TOPical, TEChnical workshop addresses Accelerated
Stress Testing and Reliability & Failure Analysis.
Be sure to attend the presentation of Quantitative Accelerated
Life Testing (QALT) given by ReliaSoft's President and CEO Pantelis
Vassiliou on Wednesday, May 8th. For more details, see http://www.sae.org/calendar/toptecs2.htm#a3st.
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ReliaSoft
to co-sponsor the 28th Annual Reliability Testing Institute
- Along with Boeing, Caterpillar, Dell, Eaton, Honeywell,
Raytheon, General Electric and Siemens, ReliaSoft will once again be
co-sponsoring the Annual Reliability Testing Institute. The institute
will be held May 13-16, 2002 in Tucson, Arizona. If you will be
attending the institute, we would love to meet you at the ReliaSoft
corporate headquarters, conveniently located nearby. Call
+1.520.886.0410 if you would like to arrange a meeting to discuss your
reliability needs. Also, be sure to attend the overview of ReliaSoft's
reliability engineering software tools, given by ReliaSoft's President
and CEO Pantelis Vassiliou on Tuesday, May 14th.
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ReliaSoft
at AQC - ReliaSoft will be participating at the ASQ's 56th
Annual Quality Congress (AQC) to be held May 20-22, 2002 at the
Colorado Convention Center in Denver, Colorado. ReliaSoft will be at
booth 353 (across from the golf simulator) in the vendors' area where
you can get information on ReliaSoft's products and services. For more
details, see http://aqc.asq.org/.
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MSG-3
Maintenance Program Creator Released - ReliaSoft's MPC 3, an
MSG-3 compliant maintenance program creator, was released in March,
2002. Developed with Honeywell Aircraft Engines & Systems Group,
this software package is specifically designed for the aerospace
industry. For more information, see http://MPC.ReliaSoft.com.
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ReliaSoft
at MRO
- ReliaSoft would like to thank those of you who stopped by the
ReliaSoft booth in the vendors area during the recent Maintenance,
Repair and Overhaul (MRO) Conference and Exhibition in Phoenix, Arizona.
We hope that we helped to make this a productive and interesting
conference for you.
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| From
The Edge |
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In addition to the
monthly Reliability HotWire, ReliaSoft publishes Reliability
Edge, a printed journal that includes articles and information
related to the field of reliability engineering. Articles of interest in
the current edition:
- Using
Quantitative Accelerated Life Testing Models for Other Applications
- Although the phrase “accelerated life testing”
often brings to mind images of temperature chambers filled with
electronic components, the methodology for analyzing data from
accelerated life tests can also be used in many other applications (e.g.
analyses to quantify reliability
under different operating conditions, degradation analyses and
stability/shelf-life studies). This article provides a brief overview of
accelerated life testing analysis modeling and demonstrates the use of
the analysis methodology in two non-accelerated applications. See http://www.reliasoft.com/newsletter/1q2002/qalt.htm.
- Creating
Initial Scheduled Maintenance Plans - The
MSG-3 guidelines have been developed to provide the aircraft
industry with a logical framework for creating initial scheduled
maintenance plans that will be acceptable to regulatory authorities,
operators and manufacturers. This article provides a general
overview of MSG-3 and discusses the systems and powerplant portion
of the analysis in more detail. Finally, we introduce ReliaSoft’s
MPC 3 software, designed to assist MSG-3 working groups to accurately and
efficiently complete such analyses. See http://www.reliasoft.com/newsletter/1q2002/maintenance.htm.
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Share
Your Experience
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Reliability
Specification Experiences Wanted
Reliability specifications
are a central component of most reliability analyses. Despite their
central importance, there is wide variation within industry as to the
format and meaning of reliability specifications. In many cases, there
are serious deficiencies in the specifications on which manufacturers
base important business decisions. In a future issue of our printed
newsletter, the Reliability
Edge, we will examine the reliability specifications that
are commonly used in industry today. We
invite you to participate by sharing non-confidential/non-proprietary
information about the reliability specifications that you work with in
your day-to-day efforts. Do you have experience with particularly
effective reliability specifications? Have you struggled to educate
decision makers in your organization about the inadequacies of the
specifications that they have adopted? Have you received specifications
from a client that just do not make sense?
Please send feedback to us at ReliabilityEdge@ReliaSoft.com,
or by standard mail at 1450 S. Eastside Loop, Tucson, AZ 85710-6703, USA.
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Copyright © 2002 ReliaSoft
Corporation, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
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