IEC TS 63164-1:2020

IEC TS 63164-1 ®
Edition 1.0 2020-02
TECHNICAL
SPECIFICATION
colour
inside
Reliability of industrial automation devices and systems –
Part 1: Assurance of automation devices reliability data and specification
of their source
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IEC TS 63164-1 ®
Edition 1.0 2020-02
TECHNICAL
SPECIFICATION
colour
inside
Reliability of industrial automation devices and systems –

Part 1: Assurance of automation devices reliability data and specification

of their source
INTERNATIONAL
ELECTROTECHNICAL
COMMISSION
ICS 25.040 ISBN 978-2-8322-7809-3

– 2 – IEC TS 63164-1:2020  IEC 2020
CONTENTS
FOREWORD . 4
INTRODUCTION . 6
1 Scope . 7
2 Normative references . 7
3 Terms, definitions, symbols and abbreviated terms . 7
3.1 Terms and definitions . 7
3.2 Abbreviated terms . 10
4 Form to present reliability data . 10
5 Conformance . 10
6 Requirements on the assurance of reliability data . 10
6.1 Assurance of reliability data derived from calculation . 10
6.1.1 General requirements . 10
6.1.2 Method based on calculation . 11
6.1.3 Data information . 11
6.2 Assurance of reliability data derived from observations of devices in the field . 11
6.2.1 General requirements . 11
6.2.2 Method based on observations of devices in the field . 11
6.2.3 Data information . 11
6.3 Assurance of reliability data derived from laboratory tests . 12
6.3.1 General requirements . 12
6.3.2 Method based on durability test results . 12
6.3.3 Data information . 12
Annex A (informative) Methods to collect reliability data from the field . 13
A.1 General . 13
A.2 Objectives of reliability data collection . 13
A.3 Specification of the type of data collected . 14
A.4 Data sources . 15
A.5 Analysis methods and their required data . 15
A.6 Planning . 16
A.7 Approaches to data collection . 16
A.8 Methods of condition monitoring and required resources . 16
Annex B (informative) Calculation of MTTF and MTBF derived from λ for a device or
subsystem . 17
B.1 General . 17
B.2 Determination of the failure rate λ under operating conditions . 17
B.3 Determination of MTBF . 17
B.4 Example of electronic circuit . 18
Annex C (informative) Differentiation between systematic failure and random hardware
failure . 20
C.1 General . 20
C.2 Criteria for failure classification . 20
C.3 Examples . 22
C.3.1 Fatigue . 22
C.3.2 Installation fault . 22
Bibliography . 24

Figure A.1 – Exemplary definition of automation device . 14
Figure B.1 – Example of electronic circuit . 18
Figure C.1 – Example of fatigue . 22
Figure C.2 – Example of installation fault . 23

Table A.1 – Data requirements for dependability methods, why they should be used,
and IEC reference . 16
Table C.1 – Classification of failures by cause . 20
Table C.2 – Classification of failures by phenomenon . 21
Table C.3 – Example for failure collection and evaluation . 21

– 4 – IEC TS 63164-1:2020  IEC 2020
INTERNATIONAL ELECTROTECHNICAL COMMISSION
____________
RELIABILITY OF INDUSTRIAL AUTOMATION
DEVICES AND SYSTEMS –
Part 1: Assurance of automation devices
reliability data and specification of their source

FOREWORD
1) The International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) is a worldwide organization for standardization comprising
all national electrotechnical committees (IEC National Committees). The object of IEC is to promote
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2) The formal decisions or agreements of IEC on technical matters express, as nearly as possible, an international
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8) Attention is drawn to the Normative references cited in this publication. Use of the referenced publications is
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9) Attention is drawn to the possibility that some of the elements of this IEC Publication may be the subject of
patent rights. IEC shall not be held responsible for identifying any or all such patent rights.
The main task of IEC technical committees is to prepare International Standards. In
exceptional circumstances, a technical committee may propose the publication of a Technical
Specification when
• the required support cannot be obtained for the publication of an International Standard,
despite repeated efforts, or
• the subject is still under technical development or where, for any other reason, there is the
future but no immediate possibility of an agreement on an International Standard.
Technical Specifications are subject to review within three years of publication to decide
whether they can be transformed into International Standards.
Technical Specification IEC TS 63164-1 has been prepared by IEC technical committee 65:
Industrial-process measurement, control and automation.

The text of this technical specification is based on the following documents:
DTS Report on voting
65/744/DTS 65/767/RVDTS
Full information on the voting for the approval of this technical specification can be found in
the report on voting indicated in the above table.
This publication has been drafted in accordance with the ISO/IEC Directives, Part 2.
A list of all parts of the IEC 63164 series, published under the general title, Reliability of
industrial automation devices and systems, can be found on the IEC website.
The committee has decided that the contents of this publication will remain unchanged until
the stability date indicated on the IEC web site under "http://webstore.iec.ch" in the data
related to the specific publication. At this date, the publication will be
• transformed into an International standard,
• reconfirmed,
• withdrawn,
• replaced by a revised edition, or
• amended.
IMPORTANT – The 'colour inside' logo on the cover page of this publication indicates
that it contains colours which are considered to be useful for the correct
understanding of its contents. Users should therefore print this document using a
colour printer.
– 6 – IEC TS 63164-1:2020  IEC 2020
INTRODUCTION
Reliability data of automation devices is often used by assessors and system integrators to
predict the properties of a complete system. The assessors and system integrators need to
know how this data was acquired. This specification gives guidance to device manufacturers
on how to present the reliability data of their devices and how to indicate the source of the
reliability data in a manner that assessors and system integrators can make best use of. This
includes the specification of reference conditions.
Three methods of data acquisition are distinguished:
1) Calculation. This is the preferred method for electronic devices.
2) Observation of devices in the field. This is the preferred method if no relevant data is
available to make a forecast by calculation.
3) Laboratory tests. This is the preferred method for mechanical and electromechanical
devices. Laboratory durability tests are, however, not deemed to be suitable if said
devices will operate in the low demand mode (in the sense of IEC 61508-4:2010, 3.5.16).
NOTE Burn-in and break-in are not considered in this specification and will be addressed in future documents.
This specification is the first part of the series. This part of IEC 63164 concentrates on
reliability data, including assurance of reliability data and methods of field reliability data
collection. How to get data from calculation and laboratory tests is described in other
documents. Therefore, this part will concentrate on random hardware failures, but it is
recognized that it is difficult to distinguish between random hardware failures and systematic
failures when collecting field data.
Future parts can include following subjects:
– reliability at system level;
– monitoring the automation device in the field;
– user guide.
RELIABILITY OF INDUSTRIAL AUTOMATION
DEVICES AND SYSTEMS –
Part 1: Assurance of automation devices
reliability data and specification of their source

1 Scope
This part of IEC 63164 provides guidance on the assurance of reliability data of automation
devices. If the source of this data is calculation, guidance is given on how to specify the
methods used for this calculation. If the source is from observation of devices in the field,
guidance is given on how to describe these observations and their evaluations. If the source
is the outcome of laboratory tests, guidance is given on how to specify these tests and the
conditions under which they have been carried out.
This document defines the form to present the data.
The components considered in this document are assumed not to need any break-in phase
before full range usage.
When devices are used for functional safety application, the requirements of IEC 61508 (all
parts) and related standards are considered.
2 Normative references
The following documents are referenced in the text in such a way that some or all of their
content constitutes requirements for this document. For dated references, only the edition
cited applies. For undated references, the latest edition of the referenced document (including
any amendments) applies.
IEC 60300-3-2:2004, Dependability management – Part 3-2: Application guide – Collection of
dependability data from the field
IEC 60300-3-5:2001, Dependability management – Part 3-5: Application guide – Reliability
test conditions and statistical test principles
IEC 61649:2008, Weibull analysis
3 Terms, definitions, symbols and abbreviated terms
3.1 Terms and definitions
For the purposes of this document, the following terms and definitions apply.
ISO and IEC maintain terminological databases for use in standardization at the following
addresses:
• IEC Electropedia: available at http://www.electropedia.org/
• ISO Online browsing platform: available at http://www.iso.org/obp

– 8 – IEC TS 63164-1:2020  IEC 2020
3.1.1
assurance of reliability data
outcome of having the needed supporting information such that the reliability data can be
trusted, verified and audited
3.1.2
threshold
B
time until 10 % of the components fail
Note 1 to entry: The applicable time interval is dependent on the nature and application of the asset and can be
elapsed time, operating hours, number of cycles, etc.
Note 2 to entry: For this document, an average failure rate is calculated from the B threshold by dividing 10 %
with the B threshold in hours. The influence of infant mortality is neglected and increasing failure rate is assumed
only significant after B .
Note 3 to entry: Once the B threshold is reached, the failure rate is assumed unacceptable for pneumatic and
electromechanical components.
3.1.3
burn-in
process conducted with the sole intention of stabilizing parameters
Note 1 to entry: Burn-in is an accelerated conditioning by operating the item under its operating electrical load at
an elevated temperature, which is generally the maximum operating temperature that does not exceed the thermal
rating of the device.
3.1.4
failure rate
λ
limit, if it exists, of the quotient of the conditional probability that the failure of a non-
repairable item occurs within time interval (t, t + Δt) by Δt, when Δt tends to zero, given that
failure has not occurred within time interval (0, t)
Note 1 to entry: See IEC 61703, Mathematical expressions for reliability, availability, maintainability and
maintenance support terms, for more detail.
[SOURCE: IEC 60050-192:2015, 192-05-06, modified – The formula and Note 2 to entry have
been deleted]
3.1.5
failure in time
FIT
the number of failures in 10 component hours of operation
[SOURCE: IEC 60947-5-3:2013, 2.3.18, modified – "device" has been replaced by
"component"]
3.1.6
field data
reliability data observed in the field
Note 1 to entry: The word “field” means the normal working environment of the device.
3.1.7
mean operating time between failures
MTBF
expectation of the duration of the operating time between failures
Note 1 to entry: Mean operating time between failures should only be applied to repairable items. For non-
repairable items, see mean operating time to failure (192-05-11).
[SOURCE: IEC 60050-192:2015, 192-05-13, modified – "MOTBF" has been deleted]

3.1.8
mean operating time to failure
MTTF
expectation of the operating time to failure
Note 1 to entry: In the case of non-repairable items with an exponential distribution of operating times to failure
(i.e. a constant failure rate) the MTTF is numerically equal to the reciprocal of the failure rate. This is also true for
repairable items if after restoration they can be considered to be "as-good-as-new".
[SOURCE: IEC 60050-192:2015, 192-05-11 – modified: Note 2 to entry has been deleted]
3.1.9
mission time
T
M
period of time covering the intended use
[SOURCE: ISO 13849-1:2015, 3.1.28, modified – "of an SRP/CS" has been deleted]
3.1.10
random hardware failure
failure, occurring at a random time, which results from one or more of the possible
degradation mechanisms in the hardware
[SOURCE: IEC 61508-4:2010, 3.6.5]
3.1.11
reliability
ability to perform as required, without failure, for a given time interval, under given conditions
Note 1 to entry: The time interval duration can be expressed in units appropriate to the item concerned, e.g.
calendar time, operating cycles, distance run, etc., and the units should always be clearly stated.
Note 2 to entry: Given conditions include aspects that affect reliability, such as: mode of operation, stress levels,
environmental conditions, and maintenance.
[SOURCE: IEC 60050-192:2015, 192-01-24 – modified: Note 3 to entry has been deleted]
3.1.12
systematic failure
failure, related in a deterministic way to a certain cause, which can only be eliminated by a
modification of the design or of the manufacturing process, operational procedures,
documentation or other relevant factors
Note 1 to entry: Corrective maintenance without modification will usually not eliminate the failure cause.
Note 2 to entry: A systematic failure can be induced by simulating the failure cause.
Note 3 to entry: Examples of causes of systematic failures include human error in
– the safety requirements specification;
– the design, manufacture, installation, operation of the hardware;
– the design, implementation, etc. of the software.
Note 4 to entry: In this standard, failures in a safety-related system are categorized as random hardware failures
(see 3.1.10) or systematic failures.
[SOURCE: IEC 61508-4:2010, 3.6.6]
3.1.13
useful life
time interval, from first use until user requirements are no longer met, due to economics
of operation and maintenance, or obsolescence
Note 1 to entry: In this context, “first use” excludes testing activities prior to hand-over of the item to the end-user.
[SOURCE: IEC 60050-192:2015, 192-02-27]

– 10 – IEC TS 63164-1:2020  IEC 2020
3.2 Abbreviated terms
For the purposes of this document, the following abbreviated terms apply.
FIT Failures in time
MTBF Mean time between failures
MTTF Mean time to failure
T Mission time
M
4 Form to present reliability data
Generally, the reliability data can be considered from the following aspects.
– Source of data: how to get the reliability data, from calculation/observation of devices in
the field/ laboratory test, standards or database.
– Reliability data: Common reliability data such as MTBF, λ, MTTF, and B .
– Period of validity, such as T .
M
– Reference conditions: Information about deployment conditions under which a device was
observed or which are assumed for its future deployment, such as operating time,
exposure time, operating voltage, operating current, duty cycle.
– Reference environment conditions: Information about the reference environment
conditions under which the field data was acquired or which are assumed for further
deployment, such as temperature, humidity, pressure, corrosion, vibration.
– Events: Information about anything that happened to the automation device during its life
and might influence reliability, including failures, repairs, etc.
5 Conformance
A manufacturer of an automation device presenting reliability data of said device in
accordance with thi
...