xiv PREFACE
design check. At the end of each chapter, there is a wide selection of exercises. is book can
also be used as a reference book for design engineers.
is book consists of four chapters and Appendix A. A concise summary of each chapter
are as follows.
• Chapter 1: Introduction to Reliability in Mechanical Design
is chapter serves as an introduction and will discuss the engineering design process,
failures, and uncertainty in engineering design, reliability definition, and history.
• Chapter 2: Fundamental Reliability Mathematics
is chapter discusses the fundamental concepts and definitions of probabilistic theory
for the preparation of their implementation for mechanical design. is chapter enables
a person without any knowledge of probability theory to use this book to conduct the
reliability-based mechanical design.
• Chapter 3: Computational Methods of the Reliability of a Component
is chapter discusses several computational methods of the reliability of a component
when the limit state function of a component under load is established. ose methods
include the interference method, the First-Order Second-Moment (FOSM) method, the
Hasoder-Lind (H-L) method, the Rachwitz-Fiessler (R-F) method, and the Monte Carlo
method.
• Chapter 4: Reliability of a Component under Static Load
is chapter presents typical limit state functions of a component under each typical static
load and combined load, and further demonstrate how to calculate the reliability of compo-
nents under any type of static loads. Five typical component cases presented in this chapter
include a bar under axial static load, a pin under direct shear static load, a shaft under static
torsion, a beam under static bending moment, and a component under combined static
loads.
• Appendix A: Samples of three MATLAB Programs
Appendix A provides three MATLAB programs as references for calculating the reliability
of a component under static load. ese three samples of MATLAB programs include one
for the Hasoder-Lind (H-L) method, one for the Rachwitz-Fiessler (R-F) method, and
one for the Monte Carlo method.
is book could not have been completed and published without lots of encouragement
and help. First, I sincerely thank Mechanical Department Chairman and Professor Mickael
Jackson at the Wentworth Institute of Technology, whose encouragement motivated me to open
two technical elective courses about the reliability in mechanical engineering. Second, I sincerely
thank Professors Anthony William Duva and Richard L. Roberts for reviewing some of the