Software for Reliability Analysis

This short overview gives only some of the commercial programs for reliability assessment.They range from simple ones at moderate prices and suitable for a limited range of problems to program systems for the analysis of complex problems.For getting practice and for the solution of simple problems, the reader can create own programs based on universal software such as Excel, although their possibilities are limited. VaP -Variables Processor (http://www.petschacher.at)A simple Monte Carlo simulation program VaP enables the probabilistic analysis of a userdefined function G(x) depending on one or more random input variables.Several types of probability distributions can be used.VaP calculates the expected value, standard deviation, skewness, and curtosis of G.It shows the histogram of the function G and calculates the probability that G gets less than zero.(The program was originally developed for the students of civil engineering at ETH, with G denoting reliability margin, cf.Chapter 14, and can also use the First Order Reliability Method FORM.)The main results are saved and printed.Favorable price-performance ratio. Anthill(http://www.sbra-anthill.com)Anthill is a computer program for the calculation of reliability and other statistical analyses based on the Monte Carlo method.The user-defined model for analysis can use various mathematical and logical functions and predefined histograms.After the trials with random values of input quantities have been performed, a statistical analysis of sampled values is performed, and the results are displayed.The resulting histograms and statistical parameters can be saved for further postprocessing.Favorable price-performance ratio. Feasible Reliability Engineering Tool (FReET) (http://www.freet.cz)FReET is a multipurpose probabilistic software for statistical, sensitivity, and reliability analysis of engineering problems, developed at the Brno University of Technology, Institute