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Abstract This paper describes the integration of Failure Modes and Effects Analysis (FMEA) into a computer-aided tool for Serviceability Design. FMEA is an important yet often neglected design practice that is critical in ensuring the product’s ownership quality. A computer aid that integrates FMEA into other life-cycle design evaluation tool should encourage engineers to use this important methodology more readily. The proposed method, service modes and effects analysis (SMEA) combines the functional block diagram (FBD) and structural graph (LINKER) as design inputs. The user defines functional discrepancies or component failures as service mode inputs, and the tool computes the failure criticality for each mode and life-cycle service costs. The key technology lies in representing the relationship between functions and structure and maintaining the consistency between function and component-based service modes. SMEA builds on our prototype life-cycle design analysis tool, LASeR, which evaluates not only the life-cycle ownership quality but also assemblability and recyclability.
Marco et al. (Sun,) studied this question.