System-level reliability analysis for conceptual design of electrical power systems

The safety-critical nature of new complex cyber-physical systems mandates a thorough analysis to fully understand and quantify failure mechanisms and their impact on system design. This paper introduces a system-level reliability analysis method for assessing the dependability of alternative conceptual design architectures. The method enables the analysis of criticality and sensitivity of components to the system-level requirements, based on component connections and their failure probability. The analysis performed at this earliest stage of design facilitates the development of more robust and reliable system architectures. Application of the presented method to the design of a representative aerospace electrical power system (EPS) demonstrates these capabilities.