Analysis of Failures and Influence Factors of Critical Infrastructures: A Case of Metro

Abstract

Metro plays an indispensable role in promoting social and economic development of the big cities. However, the safety operation of the metro system is believed to be an arduous work for its operation being susceptible to various factors, especially equipment failure, which could bring about delay, interruption, and even accidents. In consideration of the seriousness of metro accident, it is becoming more and more crucial to conduct proactive, targeted, and effective risk management to reduce failures. Firstly, based on the FMECA and influence diagram theory, this paper proposes a new analytical framework to study metro equipment failure in accordance with system decomposition. Furthermore, a case study is implemented to verify the feasibility and availability of this framework in evaluating criticality of failure modes and assessing its influence factors based on the collected data from metro operation company. As indicated by the research results, wheel damage is the most serious failure mode in the bogie system, and its most paramount influence factor is the shortage of professional skills. Finally, a discussion about the research methods and results is carried out, and several recommendations are put forward to improve safety management on the basis of research findings. This study has the potential to offer suggestions in regard to metro equipment design, operation, and maintenance for raising the safety level in metro operation.