Deriving verification objectives and scenarios for maritime systems using the systems-theoretic process analysis

Rokseth, Børge, Ingrid Bouwer Utne and Jan Erik Vinnem

Reliability Engineering and System Safety, 2018, vol. 169, issue C, 18-31

Abstract: The process applied for verification of maritime systems lacks the ability to properly examine complex networks of interconnections. Verification is mainly focused on single failures of components, not properly accounting for the complexity emerging through interactions between human operators, computer systems and electro-mechanical components. The problem apparently resides in the supporting studies, or the lack thereof, for the development of test cases. A new methodology that can be introduced to the current verification process for these systems is proposed in this article. It employs Systems-theoretic process analysis (STPA) to generate verification objectives and related hazardous scenarios. These specify or extend the scope and provide acceptance criteria for verification activities, and may further serve as input to test case generation. The method is used in a case study to identify verification objectives for an automated module in the power management system of a maritime vessel. The results show that the method is able to reduce the number of context variables that verification results depend upon, and to highlight remaining context dependency, to allow for an integrated system view. It will help capture accidental scenarios with more complex causal relations than what is currently considered during verification of these systems.

Keywords: Risk; Verification; STPA; Maritime systems; Maritime Safety (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (13)

Downloads: (external link)
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0951832017303162
Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:reensy:v:169:y:2018:i:c:p:18-31

DOI: 10.1016/j.ress.2017.07.015

Access Statistics for this article

Reliability Engineering and System Safety is currently edited by Carlos Guedes Soares

More articles in Reliability Engineering and System Safety from Elsevier
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Catherine Liu ().