Network Tree Technology: As Applied to Development of Fault Isolation Procedures.

Abstract

Abstract : This paper describes the activities and conclusions of the Air Force study contract designed to investigate the application of network tree technology to the development of Fault Isolation Procedures. Network tree technology, which was initiated as a formal electrical analysis technique known as Sneak Circuit Analysis, requires that the exact electrical configuration of a system be resident in a computerized data base. This study was to determine how this data base can be used to aid the fault isolation process. Through the analysis of a specific test case, the details of a formal Fault Isolation Procedure development methodology were developed along with the definition of key areas in which automation could be used to make this methodology more cost effective. The results of this study show that the task of developing Fault Isolation Procedure is greatly aided by the use of a computerized data base that depicts te exact electrical continuity of the target system. This data base is selectively sorted to produce plots of system continuity at various levels of detail, and each plot is then used as a tool to create the fault isolation logic.