MIL 217

MIL-HDBK-217 - Reliability Prediction Software - MTBF - ITEM ToolKit

The MIL 217 Module of ITEM ToolKit is a powerful reliability prediction program based on the internationally recognised method of calculating electronic equipment reliability given in MIL HDBK 217 (published by the US Department of Defense). This standard uses a series of models for various categories of electronic, electrical and electro-mechanical components to predict failure rates which are affected by environmental conditions, quality levels, stress conditions and various other parameters. These models are fully detailed within MIL-HDBK-217.

Links

...Powerful, user friendly MIL 217 Software ...

The MIL 217 Module provides a user friendly interface which allows the user to construct, analyse and display, system models using interactive facilities. Building a hierarchy and adding new components could not be easier. The program calculates the failure rates, including mean time between failure (MTBF), associated with new components as they are added to the system, along with the overall system failure rate. Project data may be viewed both via grid view or dialog view simultaneously, allowing predictions to be performed with a minimum of effort.

Library management, import and export facilities are also provided. Quality user-configurable reports are produced by the program automatically. In addition, data may simply be dragged and dropped into Microsoft® applications such as Word®, Excel®, Access® etc. allowing a wide range of additional customised reports and charts to be produced.

Features include:

Multi Systems within the same project,
Transfer to and from any other module,
Redundancy modelling including hot standby,
Mission Phase,
External Arrhenius temperature model for user defined failure rates,
Linked Blocks, represent blocks with identical characteristics.

Reliability Prediction

ITEM ToolKit contains 5 modules for performing reliability prediction (MTBF) analysis. These modules conform to MIL-HDBK-217 F Notice 2, Bellcore (Telcordia) TR-332 (issue 6) and SR-332 (issue 1), UTE C RDF 2000, China 299B (electronics) and NSWC 98 (mechanical) and share many common features and capabilities.

Each reliability prediction module is designed to analyse and calculate component, sub system and system failure rates, including Mean Time Between Failure (MTBF), in accordance with the appropriate standard. After the analysis is complete, ITEM ToolKit's integrated environment comes into its own with powerful conversion facilities for transferring data to other modules of the program. For example, transfer your MIL-217 project data to FMECA or your Bellcore project to RBD. These powerful facilities transfer as much of the available information as possible, saving you valuable time and effort.

Multi-Document Interface (MDI)

ITEM ToolKit's Multi Document Interface allows several
projects or libraries to open at the same time. This valuable
feature comes in especially handy when it is necessary to
transfer data from one project (or library) to another.

Hierarchy Diagrams And Failure Rates

Users can construct hierarchical breakdowns of systems with no restrictions on block numbers or levels of indenture. As new sub blocks and components are added, ToolKit automatically
recalculates all dependent failure rates to take account of new information.

"What If" Studies

Powerful global editing facilities are available for performing "what if" evaluations. These facilities enable you to experiment with temperature, environmental and stress settings and see how your system performance will vary. The results of these "what if" studies can either be displayed graphically or as text.

Redundancy Calculations

Each prediction module includes redundancy parameters for calculating availability at sub system and system levels.

Linked Blocks

ITEM ToolKit's prediction modules allow common blocks to be repeated using linked blocks. A linked block assumes the exact characteristics and parameters of another specified block in the current project and is automatically updated as the "source" block is changed.

Find And Replace

The Find and Replace options allow blocks and/or components to be quickly located and, if required, changed. Part numbers, descriptions, circuit references etc, can be globally modified as required. These features are particularly valuable when working on large projects.

Pi Factors

Each prediction module uses Pi factors and other parameters to calculate component, sub system and system failure rates. These can easily be extracted and displayed.

Default Parameters

When adding components to your system, ITEM ToolKit automatically inserts applicable default values for blocks and components. These default values can be changed to represent your most frequent settings.

Arrhenius Temperature Model

User defined component failure rates can be adjusted using the Arrhenius temperature model during system and sub system global edits.

Download Demonstration

To download a free demonstration of our MIL HDBK 217 software click here.