Quick Tour of BlockSim

BlockSim supports a wide variety of system reliability, availability and related analyses using reliability block diagrams (RBDs), fault trees (FTA) and/or Markov analysis. It’s also packed with tools for related analyses, such as reliability allocation, optimum replacement and inspection, reliability importance measures and throughput analysis. In addition, BlockSim's event analysis flowcharts use Monte Carlo simulation to model and analyze even the most complex probabilistic or deterministic scenarios.

You can use this application to answer a wide variety of questions, such as:

  • What is the expected reliability of the system? What are the most critical components? What component reliabilities are required to meet the system reliability goal?
  • What is the expected availability (uptime) or throughput? Where are the critical components or bottlenecks? What changes are needed to meet the operational goals?
  • What is the optimum maintenance strategy? When is the best time for scheduled maintenance? How many spares should we keep on hand? Is crew capacity sufficient?
  • How much will it cost to operate the system? How will a change in the design or operating conditions affect costs? Which components are the most costly?
  • What is the risk of catastrophic failure? Which components or failure modes pose the greatest risk? How will a change in the design or operating conditions affect safety?
  • How does the system perform across different operational phases?
  • What is the effect of variability on performance? How will the outcome be affected by changes in specific inputs? What are the probabilities of different possible outcomes?