Abstract
The purpose of this good practices document is to help improve reliability and survivability of marine energy converters, through improved information collection, analysis and dissemination when components fail.
The marine industry is focused on eliminating these failures through better understanding of the how and why they fail and there is a need to capture these failures as they happen, in order to provide a better understanding of their causes. This guide provides a systematic approach to handling, securing, sampling and conducting an initial investigation into failed components prior to submitting them to an appropriate team for analysis.
This guide is to be used by a developer or marine contractor conducting onshore and offshore device operations, including transporting, lifting, installing, deployment, testing, retrieval, and maintenance operations, during which a component could potentially fail.
The guide describes how to handle, package and investigate a failed component. It includes a description of the conditions in which failures occur, a suggested taxonomy for classification (produced by the AFRC, 2015), a handling process, and an initial investigation using Root Cause Analysis (RCA). Appendix 1 provides a proforma to collect useful information relating to the failed component. The proforma has been designed to be used across the industry, both nationally and internationally.
This guidance has been developed with reference to many well established and recognised methodologies in the reliability industry (FMEA-FMECA, 2016; Andersen & Fagerhaug, 2006; MoD, 1995). The aim in following this guidance is to establish a culture of reliability, whereby failures initiate a proactive risk assessment approach that underpins and supports design, manufacturing, and predictive O&M.