Engineering Guidelines for the Evaluation of Hydropower Projects: Chapter 17- Potential Failure Modes Analysis
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, 2021
A Potential Failure Mode Analysis (PFMA) is a process used for safety evaluations of dams and project works. Traditional dam safety evaluations have tended to focus on a limited number of “standards based” concerns such as hydraulic capacity of spillways and stability of structures under a set of pre-defined loading conditions. PFMAs are intended to broaden the scope of the safety evaluations to include potential failure scenarios that may have been overlooked in past reviews and evaluations. A PFMA is an exercise to identify all potential failure modes (PFMs) under normal, flood, earthquake, and other (ice, reservoir sedimentation, etc.) loading conditions, including all external loading conditions for water retaining and conveying structures, and to assess those potential failure modes that are significant enough to warrant continued awareness and attention to visual observation, monitoring, and remediation, as appropriate.
A PFMA is a method of analysis where particular flaws and initiating conditions are postulated and the analysis reveals the full range of effects of the flaws or the initiating condition on the system (USACE, 2014). Each method of failure is identified, described, and evaluated on its credibility and significance. Potential failure modes are a way that failure can occur, describing the means by which element or component failures must occur to cause loss of the sub-system or system function. The potential failure mode encompasses the full sequence of events from initiation (cause) through the ultimate failure effect of interest to include physical, operational, and managerial systems.
Revision ID: 2162
Revision Date: 08/09/2022