Marine Propulsion System Reliability Research Based on Fault Tree Analysis

The marine propulsion system is the heart of the ship. Its reliability will directly affect the safe navigation and operating costs of ship. Predicting and finding the faults of the marine propulsion system in time is one of the key technologies in marine field. However, there are few reports on this issue. Focusing on the study of comprehensive reliability for the marine propulsion system, this study analyses operation environments of the marine propulsion system firstly, and then expounds the comprehensive reliability research connotation. Fault Tree Analysis (FTA) is used to assess the reliability of the marine propulsion system based on the function flow diagram. According to the fault tree of the marine propulsion system, the marine engine system is taken as an example to assess its reliability by the accumulative failure probability. The result shows that FTA can assess the reliability of the marine engine system effectively within a period of time, but it cannot assess its whole life. It is believed that the knowledge gained in this study will provide the theoretical reference for research on comprehensive reliability of marine propulsion system and guide for developing comprehensive technology of combining life prediction, fault early warning, maintenance remission and reliability design for protecting the ships completing their missions reliably and safely.