Brief background of course

This course is the specialization course in reliability, availability, maintenance and safety (RAMS) in the last fall semester of the (2 year) international master program in RAMS and the (5 year) master program in Mechanical Engineering (in Norwegian: Produktdesign og Produksjon - PUP). The course introduces some new methods, and makes a more thorough presentation of methods introduced in previous RAMS-related courses.

• Lecturer: Mary Ann Lundteigen
• The first lecture will be held on Tuesday August 19th 8:15-11:00  in VG13
• Course description is found here
• General information about the course (motivation, learning objectives, and related information) is found here
• The lecture plan for the entire semester is found here
• Course description The time table is found here

The course belongs to the large envelope of RAMS courses which are thought at the department of Production and Quality Engineering at NTNU. The course is adminstred by the RAMS group at this department. It is expected that the students have taken (or have relevant background corresponding to):

• TPK 4120: Safety and Reliability
• TPK 4140: Maintenance Management 
• TPK 5160: Risk Analysis 

This course replaces the earlier arrangement with two specialization modules in RAMS, one in risk and reliability and one in maintenance optimization (each with 3.75 credit points). In a transition period, TPK 5170 will include some subjects from both of these subject areas: risk/reliability assessment and maintenance optimization. It may be important to note that

• This course is now a regular course like any other master courses, and it may not be possible that all students will be able to see a close relationship with their specialization project and the lectured topics (which was easier to ensure with the old system with specialization modules).
• You may consider this course as the last fill in of new topics and extensions, and it corresponds to what we in the RAMS group think you should have in your "knowledge & skills" suitcase when you leave NTNU with a specialization in RAMS.

The responsible person for TPK 5170 in the fall of 2014 is Professor Mary Ann Lundteigen. She will give approximately 60% of the lectures. Since this is a specialization course, some "specialists" are brought in for specific topics. For example, Associate Professor Yiliu Liu  will lecture methods like PetriNets. Lectures that belong to the topic maintenance optimization are planned to be lectures by Professor Jørn Vatn, and the new Professor Anne Barros who starts from September 1st.

I mentioned that TPK 5170 is in a transition period. The course may, from the fall of 2015, change the name to "Asset management methods". A new course in "Reliability of safety-critical systems" ("SIS course") will at the same time be introduced (from spring 2015). Topics related to  reliability assessment will be transferred to the new ("SIS") course, and it is planned that TPK 5170 with its new profile will expand on topics related to maintenance optimization and the estimation of remaining useful life. The changes will be available http://www.ntnu.edu/studies/courses, once implemented.

Course objective and motivation

The main objective of this course is to increase the depth of understanding about RAMS assessment and optimization models and methods. Such models and methods may be useful for several purposes, including:

• Definition of requirements (how reliable must a system be?)
• Implementation of requirements (how should we design the system in order to meet stated reliability?)
• How may we operate the system in order to minimize costs and time?
• How may it be required to operate the system to be sufficiently safe?
• How can we support our models and methods with data, and can these data be determined?

As already mentioned, the course aims to study already lectured methods and models in more detail, to add more perspectives to the understanding. Some new models methods are also introduced so that the students, after having taken the course, will have a solid toolbox of models and methods to use in their future work career.  The lectured methods may also be used in the master project in the last semester.

Expected learning outcome

Knowledge:
Obtain a more thorough understanding of the theoretical foundation and the practical applications of RAMS assessment and optimization methods. 

Skills:
Being able to identify suitable frameworks, methods, and software and to use these to solve RAMS assessment and optimization tasks.

General competence:
Understand RAMS as an important cornerstone of industrial and commercial systems and in the public administration. 

Industry relevance

Reliability assessments of safety-critical systems are key services provided by many consultancy companies, such as with Safetec, Lloyd's Register Consulting, and DNV-GL (link to the GL-part of the services), and Lilleaker Consulting. Manufacturers like ABB, Siemens, AkerSolutions, FMC, Kongsberg Maritime and many others need to design systems in light of reliability requirements, and also demonstrate (sometimes with assistance of the consultancy companies) that the reliability requirements are met. End users, like railway service providers like Jernbaneverket, oil companies like Statoil, Det Norske, GDF-Suez, Shell and Conoco-Phillips, and Wintershall, and other industries like smelting plants and water power suppliers must be competent to select proper system design, follow up the system performance and select the most suitable maintenance strategies to keep costs and safety within the accepetable limits.

Tutorials & Project

• It is not compulsory to solve problems and hand in solutions, however, problems are provided as part of the course and the tutorial hours in relation to these. The provision of problems is based on student feedback from earlier years.
• There is no compulsory project, however, the students will be organized into groups and given a topic to present in the last lecture. Having oral presentation as part of the course is also based on student feedback from earlier years.

...

• Textbook and course material are from:
  • Reliability of Safety-Critical Systems: Theory and Applications
  • Maintenance optimization lecture notes
  • Additional material will be uploaded on its' learning
• Information about tutorials and exercises is found here
• Exam: 
  • There will be a written exam. It is not allowed to bring any other material to this exam than a calculator and a table of formula (the latter is prepared during the semester by the lecturer)
  • More information about the exam is found here