Modeling and Prediction of the Reliability Analysis of an 18-Pulse Rectifier Power Supply for Aircraft Based Applications

Due to its advantages of small size and light weight, multi-pulse rectifier has a broad application prospect in the field of aviation. The 18-pulse rectifier is more popular in practical engineering application because of its better rectifier characteristics than 12-pulse, its simpler structure process and easier to realize than 24-pulse. The theoretical research and engineering application of the 18-pulse rectifier have achieved some success. However, whether the reliability of the system can be satisfied has always been one of the key problems to be solved in practical engineering. The aim of this work is to study the reliability modeling and prediction of the 18-pulse rectifier power supply. Its reliability block diagram and mathematical model are established. According to US Military handbook MIL-HDBK-217F, the most authoritative and widely used in the world, the two most commonly used methods for reliability prediction are parts count method and part stress analysis method. The reliability data are estimated by these two methods. It is concluded that the value of mean time between failures in airborne environment is 23326 h, which meets the requirement of 1.5 times of 15000 h. According to the reliability data, the failure mode and effect analysis of its weak links are carried out, and the improvement measures are proposed. This will promote and guide the reliability growth and engineering popularization of the 18-pulse rectifier power supply. At the same time, the reliability of the actual project can be extended to other related engineering applications to ensure the reliable operation of the system.