Using a Modified Failure Modes and Effects Analysis Within the Structured Design Recovery Framework

Design recovery is defined as determining the relevant form and functions and their relationships for a component in order to generate a complete engineering representation. To lead to a more complete model, an integrated approach that assesses the component from different perspectives is presented here, as no one perspective or set of tools can provide a comprehensive engineering representation. There is always the potential for error; hence, the necessity to assess latent design and/or design recovery issues in rigorous manner. A modified failure modes and effects analysis (FMEA) was developed to provide a foundation for the reconstructed model’s design validation. The modified FMEA is designed to interface directly with the design recovery framework. A matrix based procedure, which considers feature functions and relationships, is developed to assist the designer to quickly assess the feature design using a consistent structured approach. The results are plotted, and subsequent testing strategies are suggested based on the characteristics of the features being assessed. Examples illustrate the proposed methodologies and highlight their merits.