Reliability estimates for flawed mortar projectile bodies

J.A. Cordes, J. Thomas, R.S. Wong and D. Carlucci

Reliability Engineering and System Safety, 2009, vol. 94, issue 12, 1887-1893

Abstract: The Army routinely screens mortar projectiles for defects in safety-critical parts. In 2003, several lots of mortar projectiles had a relatively high defect rate, 0.24%. Before releasing the projectiles, the Army reevaluated the chance of a safety-critical failure. Limit state functions and Monte Carlo simulations were used to estimate reliability. Measured distributions of wall thickness, defect rate, material strength, and applied loads were used with calculated stresses to estimate the probability of failure. The results predicted less than one failure in one million firings. As of 2008, the mortar projectiles have been used without any safety-critical incident.

Keywords: Reliability; Safety; Defects; Limit state function; Distributions; Failure; Mortars; Margin; Manufacturing defect; Strength; Safety-critical; X-rays; Finite element analysis; Case study; Monte Carlo simulation (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2009
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:reensy:v:94:y:2009:i:12:p:1887-1893

DOI: 10.1016/j.ress.2009.06.004

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