Projects of Reliability Engineering

Institute of Machine Components (IMA)

Overview of current projects, recently completed projects and the project archive

Current projects

Recently completed projects

Project archive

Martin Diesch, MTU Friedrichshafen GmbH

Knowing the actual operational load is of utmost importance for the development of a reliable product. The goal of this project is to determine load spectra, which describe the load on components of large diesel engines. Soft sensors will be implemented to determine the correlation between physical measured variables and damaging parameters.
 

Andreas Ostertag, DFG Sonderforschungsbereich (SFB 1244)

In the SFB 1244 the aspired adaptive structures need to adapt to the current load situation like wind and weather and the user. Beside of guaranteeing a high reliability the behavior of the system when it comes to a failure is very important. The objective is to have a Fail-Safe-concept managing an adaptive fault response which keeps the operating condition sustainable as far and as long as possible. Furthermore supporting Fail-Safe-elements will be developed and applied.

Andreas Kroner, Daimler AG

One goal of remanufacturing is to maximize the re-use rate of parts of the product to save resources and capital, but without reducing the quality and reliability of the remanufactured products. To achieve this, it is important, that the selected parts for remanufacturing ensure a second lifetime of the whole product.
 

Thomas Herzig, IMA

The testing effort required to prove the reliability target can already be taken into account in the early development process. The aim is to achieve an optimum between product development costs (material, production, ...) and testing costs (test type, number of test items, ...) by adjusting the overdimensioning. (material, production, ...) and testing costs (type of test, number of test items, number of test rigs required, choice of load levels in accelerated testing, ...). The choice of the appropriate testing strategy is thereby objectively evaluated with the help of test costs, total time and probability of success and is influenced by the oversizing of individual failure mechanisms considered in the development process.

 

Mark Henß, IMA

Prognostics and Health Management is a technical discipline dealing with the evaluation and control of the remaining useful life of systems. One goal of this work is to bundle the spectrum of methods and models from reliability engineering, statistics, machine learning, measuring technology, etc. in a common theoretical approach. 
The use of machine learning enables automatic recognition of relevant patterns and trends in data that are difficult to access for humans. Missing training data, labels and a low data quality are obstacles for implementation. This project investigates how prior knowledge can be implemented in the algorithms to eliminate these deficits.
 

Alexander Kremer, Walther Flender GmbH

Despite a long history of available belt drives there is whether standardized designs or engineering method. In addition, there is a lack of quantitative information on the reliability and wear of belt drives. Therefore, a methodology for application-based lifetime modelling and lifetime prediction of belt drives should be developed. This lifetime model has to consider relevant design and use parameters.
 

Kevin Lucan und Mark Henß, Bergische Achsen, DAF, Daimler, Haldex, IVECO, Knorr-Bremse, MAN, MERITOR, SAF Holland, WABCO

Knowledge of the strength behavior and operational loads is necessary for the development of durable and reliable products. For this reason a working group in combination with ten participants of the commercial vehicle industry was established to derivate standard load spectra for commercial vehicle brake systems. Goal of the working group was the development of an industry-wide standard for designing and dimensioning of commercial vehicle brakes.
 

Frank Müller und Jan Gröber, Festo AG & Co. KG

Reliability analysis of mechatronic systems considering mechanic and electronic components as well as aspects of software. The reliability analysis is shown on the example system of a novel valve terminal. Design and implementation of reliability tests. Systematic work out of the basics of reliability of mechatronic systems as well as working out of the possibilities to determine the systems’ reliability in early development phases.
 

Julian Popp, HSA Aalen, ISSA Forschungsprojekt

The demand for raw materials from the deep sea is constantly increasing. In order to extract these raw materials, systems are needed that are environmentally friendly, safe, reliable and also available. The project will develop a system architecture with a focus on mechatronic drive technology that meets the enormous requirements that prevail in the deep sea. Verification and validation on a self-developed test bed environment is also part of the project.

Volker Schramm, CERN

Analysis of surveillance systems for particle accelerators to improve the reliability, availability and the protective function. Development of a methodology on how to design, produce, test and operate dependable electronic systems. In addition, application of the methodology for the system reliability analysis, definition of the operational strategy and execution of functional and reliability tests.

Sebastian Imle, WITTENSTEIN motion control GmbH

The extraction of raw materials in the deep sea requires an environmentally friendly and safe propulsion solution. The system architecture defines the components and interfaces of the system in terms of type and quality. The processing quality of this information via a secure communication architecture determines the diagnostic coverage and functional safety of the system. The design of a condition monitoring system for use in the deep sea is the goal of this project.

Alexander Grundler, Martin Dazer; Daimler AG

In addition to physical tests of products, simulation results can also be taken into account to ensure reliability. These have to be understood from a statistical and reliability point of view, so that they can be converted into the necessary reliability statement with a statement probability. Depending on the simulation and the failure mechanism, special hurdles have to be overcome. The simulation results can then be combined with results from physical tests to make the reliability statement of the product more precise.

Alexander Grundler, ZF Friedrichshafen AG

The consideration of prior knowledge does not only allow for a more precise reliability statement, but also a reduction of costs and time in reliability test planning. Existing methods, however, show very conservative behavior and in particular the quantification of prior knowledge stemming from simulation results, as well as a transformation of reliability information between different system levels do require practicable methods.
 

Frederic Heidinger, Patrick Münzing and Andreas Ostertag, Robert Bosch GmbH

Basics for automated driving are recognizing the surroundings, planning and realizing the trajectories for steering the vehicle. The energy supply is required for fulfilling these functions. Because of a high criticality of these functions the onboard power supply system gets unprecedented huge safety requirements. To ensure a flawless function of the automated vehicle it is indispensable to regard reliability and functional safety.
 

Fei Long, GSaME, DFG

Modelling and analyzing the availability of production systems in Industry 4.0 based on Petri nets, taking into account all aspects such as flexibility, adaptability, learning ability, numerous dependencies and interactions. The aim is to develop a powerful method for modelling and analyzing the availability of production systems in Industry 4.0.
 

Zeljana Beslic, IMA

The lifetime of gears of serial transmissions are investigated on the testing bench in consideration of the failure mechanism pitting. A statistical liftetime proof of the gear with respect to the fatigue damage and the influence on the scatter of the pitting degradation model, under the influence of the load, is presented. A test methodology with regard to resource planning and a simulation approach are verified with the measurement data.
 

Sebastian Held, Knorr-Bremse Systeme für Nutzfahrzeuge GmbH

PHM focusses on the assessment of the remaining useful lifetime of a component, as well as on deriving corresponding actions. The usage of PHM in commercial vehicles is becoming more and more promising in the context of digitalization, electrification and automated driving. Within this project PHM applications for commercial vehicle components are being developed in regards to reduced life cycle costs and increased vehicle safety and availability.
 

Martin Dazer, Knorr-Bremse Systeme für Nutzfahrzeuge GmbH

Optimal reliability test planning can only take place when there is already credible prior knowledge of the product-specific failure behavior. In this project it is obtained from stochastic fatigue simulations. A virtual Weibull distribution is developed via systematic modeling of uncertainties using probability functions. With this virtually determined prior knowledge it is possible to give recommendations for determining an optimal test strategy.
 

Target values such as availability (A) and reliability (R) are defined in a cost-optimal way (€) based on function-related customer requirements, the impact of suitable maintenance strategies on the business model is investigated and the business model selection is supported. The symbiosis of stakeholders, values, functions and budget in the reliability context is the focus of the study.
 

A method is being developed for the design of cylinder blocks which makes it possible to provide information on the reliability of cylinder blocks at an early stage of development. The calculation is based on load collectives from driving operation and experimentally determined material data. By linking and comparing calculation and field analysis, a consistent strategy for reliability analysis is to be developed.
 

Based on elements of the Robust Design methodology (Axiomatic Design and Taguchi), a holistic method for designing robust and reliable components of commercial vehicle braking systems is developed.
 

Download Project Description in German

By developing a methodology for accelerated testing of commercial vehicle braking systems, their reliability has to be investigated. In addition to end-of-life tests, reliability demonstration tests and preliminary investigations are also planned. At the same time, a procedure will be shown for demonstrating the reliability of the systems during development for future projects.
 

Download Project Description in German

Description and determination of the failure behavior of machine elements on the basis of simulated lifetime data, taking into account manufacturing, design, material and load scatter. The aim is to determine the reliability in order to initiate appropriate improvement measures to achieve the required reliability target.
 

Contact Head of Reliability Engineering

This image shows Martin Dazer

Martin Dazer

Dr.-Ing.

Head of Reliability and Drive Technology Department, temporary Head of Railway Vehicle Department

 

Institute of Machine Components (IMA)

Pfaffenwaldring 9, 70569 Stuttgart

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