Case Study on the Assessment of SIL Using FMEDA

As the number, complexity and interaction of electrical, electronic and programmable electronic (E/E/PE) systems increase, a growing emphasis has been placed on the concept of functional safety during product development. IEC 61508 provides guidelines and standardized procedures in the development of reliable and dependable E/E/PE systems to assure functional safety. Determining risk classes (i.e., safety integrity levels, SILs) associated to a specific E/E/PE item may be recognized as one of the most crucial activities in the product development per IEC 61508 since SILs are used to specify necessary safety requirements for achieving an acceptable residual risk. This article presents a case study on the assessment of SILs applying failure modes, effects and diagnostic analysis (FMEDA) from which failure rates may be derived for each important failure category by combining a standard FMEA with online diagnostic techniques.