APPLICATION OF FMEA TO THE DESIGN OF A COOLING FAN ASSEMBLY

POTENTIAL
EFFECT(S)
OF
FAILURE
Audible noise
vibration;
increased
motor wear

S
5

Motor
burnout,
bearing or
brush failure

Loss of
cooling and
A/C function

Motor:
provide
Mechanical
Power to fans;
Position fans
Within shroud

Misassemble
to shroud,
off center or
crooked

Loss of
cooling
function

Motor:
provide
Mechanical
Power to fans;
Position fans
Within shroud

Assemble at
12o offnominal
Angle, motor
wire in
Wrong
location

No-build
condition in
assembly
plant

PART NAME
AND PART
FUNCTION

POTENTIAL
FAILURE
MODE

Motor:
provide
Mechanical
Power to fans;
Position fans
Within shroud

Fan vibration
from
imbalance and
axial TIR

Motor:
provide
Mechanical
Power to fans;
Position fans
Within shroud

POTENTIAL
CAUSE(S) OF
FAILURE
Fans centre of
gravity off axis
of rotation;
axial TIR
Causes 2-plane
imbalance

Overheating,
lack of air
circulation

Fan contact,
shroud, noise,
or motorburn-out

Symmetrical
spacing of
screw holes;
non-unique
mounting
interfaces

O
5

DESIGN
VERIFICATION
Design lightweight fan
with min. band mass;
part thickness to favour
uniform mould flow
DV tests on vehicles to
assess sensitivity to
vibration inputs
Vent holes in motor case;
fins in fan hub pull air
through ES, durability
tests

Design for easy assembly,

accurate positioning in
shroud

Power motion motor

has unique mounting
configuration
Visual inspection
during assembly

D
4

RPN
100

50

42

108

THIS TABLE SHOWS THE STANDARD FMEA FORMAT USED IN THE DESIGN OF A
COOLING FAN ASSEMBLY USED IN THE AIRCONDITIONING UNITS FOR
AUTOMOTIVE VEHICLES.
THE FIRST COLUMN IN THE TABLE IS FOR THE PART NAME AND PART FUNCTION.
THE PART CONSIDERED IN THIS EXAMPLE IS THE MOTOR WHICH PROVIDES
MECHANICAL POWER TO THE FAN.
THE SECOND COLUMN REQUIRES INFORMATION ABOUT THE POTENTIAL FAILURE
MODES. IN CASE OF THE MOTOR, THE FIRST POTENTIAL FAILURE MODE IS
MENTIONED AS FAN VIBRATION FROM IMBALANCE.

THE THIRD COLUMN REQUIRES THE POTENTIAL EFFECTS OF THE FAILURE WHICH,
FOR FAN VIBRATION, HAS BEEN MENTIONED AS AUDIBLE NOISE VIBRATION AND
INCREASED MOTOR WEAR.
THE SEVERITY RATING (S) IS FOUND QUALITATIVELY FROM FOLLOWING TABLE:

QUALITATIVE SCALE FOR THE SEVERITY INDEX (S)

Effect

Level

Criteria

Non

No effect

Very slight

Customer not annoyed. Very slight effect on product or system performance.

Slight

Customer slightly annoyed. Slight effect on product or system performance.

Minor

Customer experiences minor nuisance. Minor effect on product or system

performance.

Moderate

Customer experiences some dissatisfaction. Moderate effect on product or system

performance.

Significant

Customer experiences discomfort. Product performance degraded, but operable and

safe. Partial failure, but operable.

Major

Customer dissatisfied. Product inoperable but safe. System inoperable.

Extreme

Customer very dissatisfied. Product inoperable but safe. System inoperable.

Serious

Potential hazardous effect. Able to stop product without mishap time dependent
failure. Compliance with government regulation is in jeopardy.

Hazardous

10

Hazardous effect. Safety related sudden failure. Non-compliance with government

regulation.

THE NEXT COLUMN IN THE TABLE IS THE POTENTIAL CAUSES OF THE FAILURE,
WHICH HAS BEEN IDENTIFIED AS THE FANS CENTER OF GRAVITY, WHICH IS OFF
THE AXIS OF ROTATION. THE NEXT COLUMN IS FOR THE FREQUENCY OF
OCCURRENCE (O) OF THE FAILURE MODE.
THE NEXT COLUMN IS FOR DESIGN VERIFICATION. FOR FAN VIBRATION, IT IS
DESIGN LIGHTWEIGHT FAN WITH MINIMUM BAND MASS. IT ALSO SUGGESTS A
TEST ON VEHICLES HAVING THE AIR CONDITIONING UNIT INSTALLED FOR
ASSESSING SENSITIVITY TO VIBRATION INPUTS. THE SECOND LAST COLUMN IS
FOR THE DELECTABILITY INDEX (D) WHICH QUALITATIVELY MEASURES HOW
EASY IT IS TO DETECT A FAILURE MODE.
IN CASE OF FAN VIBRATION, IT HAS BEEN TAKEN FROM TABLE AS 4, WHICH IS
MODERATELY HIGH ON THE CRITERIA OF TESTS ON EARLY PROTOTYPE SYSTEM
ELEMENTS. THE LAST COLUMN IN TABLE IS FOR RISK PRIORITY NUMBER (RPN)
WHICH IS CALCULATED BY USING THE FOLLOWING FORMULA:

RPN S O D

THUS, RPN HELPS IN PRIORITIZING THE FAILURE MODES AND WORKING OUT FOR
THEIR PREVENTION. IN CASE OF FAN VIBRATION, THE RPN HAS BEEN
CALCULATED AS

RPN 5 5 4 100
QUALITATIVE SCALE FOR THE OCCURRENCE INDEX (O)
Effect

Level

Criteria

Almost never

Failure unlikely. History shows no failure.

Remote

Rare number of failures likely.

Very slight

Very few failures likely.

Slight

Few failures likely.

Low

Occasional number of failures likely.

Medium

Medium number of failures likely.

Moderately high

Moderately high number of failures likely.

High

High number of failures likely.

Very high

Very high number of failures likely.

Almost certain

10

Failure almost certain. History of failures exists from previous or

similar designs.

QUALITATIVE SCALE FOR THE DELECTABILITY INDEX (D)

Effect

Level

Criteria

Almost certain

Proven detection methods available in concept stage.

Very high

Proven computer analysis available in early design stage.

High

Simulation and/or modeling in early stage.

Moderately high

Tests on early prototype system elements.

Medium

Tests on preproduction system components.

Low

Tests on similar system components.

Slight

Tests on product with prototypes with system components installed.

Very slight

Proving durability tests on products with system components installed.

Remote

Only unproven or unreliable technique(s) available.

Almost impossible

10

No known techniques available.

IN THE TABLE THE HIGHEST RPN IS 108 FOR THE FAILURE MODE-ASSEMBLE
AT 12 DEGREES
OFF-NOMINAL ANGLE, MOTOR WIRE IN WRONG
LOCATION. THUS, IT DESERVES MAXIMUM ATTENTION FROM THE
DESIGNERS IN ORDER TO AVOID FAILURES OF THE FAN ASSEMBLY DUE TO
THIS PROBLEM.