ABSTRACT
The failure mode and effects analysis (FMEA) has been used in identifying and
reducing risks of failures in systems, equipment, and components following a
bottom-up approach. The technique has been criticized for being unintuitive and
cumbersome. The fault tree analysis (FTA) follows a top-down approach to
identifying the root causes of failures. We apply FMEA to a large-sized axial plunger
pump in an Egyptian fertilizers production plant. We extend the analysis to using the
FMEA outcomes to launch the FTA to support the evaluation of the potential failures
modes. We argue that the two techniques; FMEA and FTA, can complement each
other in support of equipment reliability and availability studies. Together, they can
offer as the basis of a reliability-centered maintenance planning, a systematic means
of cataloguing information about potential failures, and accumulation of better
knowledge of potential problems and improvement actions besides possible
maintenance cost reductions.