The RAMS engineering  activities in the RAMS Group are linked to the course TPK5165 RAMS Engineering and Management.

The activities cover RAMS engineering management in the design and development phases of new products and systems. Requirements and methods for addressing and accounting for RAMS are covered. Key areas are:

• Establishment of RAMS requirements
• Product/system development models
• Reliability allocation
• Machinery safety - with focus on the EU Machinery Directive
• Reliability prediction
• Provision of reliability data
• Reliability assessment
• Maintainability assessment
• Reliability growth
• Life cycle cost (LCC) assessment
• Reliability testing
• Qualification of new technology
• Production assurance and RAM analyses
• Warranty
• Post-sale RAMS performance

The increasing product complexity (combining mechanical, electrical, electronic, and programmable electronic systems) and the use of new materials increase the risk of product failure, and the possible damage that may result. From a customer viewpoint, product failures are obviously undesirable, but for manufacturers it is also increasingly so, because;

• Manufacturers use extended warranties as a means to differentiate products from competing products - good examples are found both within the car and computer industries, and
• Manufacturers are, through legislation, required to provide compensation for any damage resulting from a product.

• Associate professor Yiliu Liu