Failure function matrix for interconnected equipment failure analysis

Failure is an inevitable phenomenon, therefore, it is essential to develop state-of-the-art failure analysis tools that are able to deal with it. Even though there are several failure analysis tools, they lack the ability to analyse the failure interdependence in a complex system. In this study, a new failure function matrix (FFM) is proposed to analyse the cause, effect, and solution of equipment by considering both the internal and external interdependencies. An empirical study is conducted on the electrical infrastructure failure of Raya Azebo Ground water, Ethiopia. The study revealed that there is failure interdependency among devices interconnected in a complex system. The FFM can be applied to analyse failure of various infrastructures at a system level rather than a specific piece of equipment. This study contributes a novel FFM tool that is able to analyse comprehensively overall failure function (cause, effect, and solution) and to analyse failure from end-to-end at a system level by considering the failure interdependency among interconnected equipment.