Rail | Space | Aerospace | Military
Our Approach & Experience
From the outset of a project, it is essential that RAMS activities are given equal importance to design as other design parameters. RAMS Consultants Inc. has provided the services of design analyses and evaluation as concurrent tasks, to work in parallel with the design activities, and as an integral member of the design team.
Early application of the RAMS concepts and principles will provide assistance in reducing or eliminating risks to operational success at a point when the costs of such efforts are at their minimum.
A thorough analysis of the RAMS characteristics of a system/equipment is vital in ensuring an acceptable level of system operation. These analyses are therefore instrumental in minimizing costly failures, ensuring the safety of personnel and equipment, and planning of maintenance resources such as sparing and repair crews.
The documentation produced by our staff is beneficial to any program that includes design, redesign, re-engineering, or an overall refit of an existing product. RAMS Consultants Inc. is committed to satisfying all the requirements of Reliability, Maintainability, Availability, and Safety, as required by the project and program managers.
We are one of the few independent specialists in Canada, who are able to offer a complete in-house RAMS consulting service to a wide variety of industries, local and abroad. Our dedicated analysts provide superior support to the programs to which they are assigned.
Rail Projects
Docklands Light Railway
Provide Safety/Hazard Analyses services at both system and subsystem level, including Risk Assessments, Fault Tree Analyses, and prepared safety plans and safety appraisal/safety case documentation for the Light Rail Transit (LRT) system used in London (UK) docklands area (Docklands Light Railway (DLR).
Barcelona L9
Performed reliability assessments, both predictions and Failure Mode Effect and Criticality Analysis, Safety/Hazard analyses at the system and subsystem levels, Operation & Support Hazard Analysis (OSHA), preventive and corrective maintenance analyses, and Life Cycle Cost analysis (LCC) for the PIS and CCTV On-board Communication System for the Barcelona L9 rail project.
Space Projects
International Space Station
Performed reliability assessments (predictions and FMEAs), safety/hazard analyses, and Fault Tree Analyses supporting the International Space Station.
The International Space Station (ISS) is an internationally developed satellite currently being assembled in Low Earth Orbit. Primarily a research laboratory, the ISS offers an advantage over spacecraft such as NASA's Space Shuttle as it's a long-term platform in the space environment, where extended studies are conducted. The presence of a permanent crew affords the ability to monitor, replenish, repair, and replace experiments and components of the spacecraft itself.
Scientists on Earth have swift access to the crew's data and can modify experiments or launch new ones, benefits generally unavailable on specialized unmanned spacecraft.
Fluid Physics Facility
Performed the Reliability Prediction and Modeling Analysis, Failure Modes Effects and Criticality Analysis, Safety Hazard Analysis, Fault Tree Analysis, the generation of a Critical Items List (CIL) and Limited Life Items List (LLIL), and Availability Analysis on the Fluid Physics Facility (Fluidpac)a project funded by the European and German Space Agencies.
FluidPac is a reusable instrument, which is adaptable to the experiment needs and offers multi-purpose diagnostics. The optical diagnostics of FluidPac are made up of 13 different tools and include observation along three different axes. These include two different types of interferometers for determining different fluid qualities, three CCD cameras for visual observation and measurement of fluid flow, one Infrared Camera, as well as a variety of temperature, pressure, and microgravity sensors.
The analyses we performed reflected the design concept/configuration which was considered to be representative of the final flight equipment design.
Skynet 4 Satellite Communications System
Performed Reliability Prediction Analysis, Failure Modes Effects, and Criticality Analyses, Safety Hazard Analysis, the generation of a Critical Items List (CIL) and Limited Life Items List (LLIL) during the design and development, and manufacture of the Skynet4 Satellite System.
A variety of spot and global beams enables the Skynet 4 satellite to serve a widely dispersed and extensive inventory of Earth stations on land, sea and in the air, ranging from small man-portable radio sets and spacecraft terminals to rugged systems on naval vessels and submarines and the large anchor stations on land.
Skynet 4 employs signal processing and anti-jamming features and its ability to survive in the harshest of electronic warfare environments is extremely important.
Aerospace & Military Projects
V22 Osprey Landing Gear
Performed Reliability Assessments (predictions and FMEAs), Safety/Hazard Analyses, preventive and corrective Maintenance Analyses, and Maintainability Demonstrations during the design, development, and manufacture of a Landing Gear Control Unit for service on the V-22 Osprey Aircraft designed for use by the Department of National Defense. The Landing Gear Control Unit (LGCU) consists of the controls and indicators to extend and retract a hydraulic tricycle landing gear and emergency controls to extend the gears in the event the hydraulic extend/retract system fails, a status display, and a data bus system.
The V-22 is a joint service, multi-mission aircraft with vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) capability. It performs VTOL missions as effectively as a conventional helicopter while also having the long-range cruise abilities of a twin turboprop aircraft. RCI was contracted to perform RAMS analysis on the Landing Gear Control Unit (LGCU) designed and offered in response to the technical requirements consisting of the controls and indicators to extend and retract a hydraulic tricycle landing gear and emergency controls to extend the gears in the event the hydraulic extend/retract system fails, a status display and a data bus system.
Aircraft Mounted Satellite Antenna System
Performed a Reliability Assessment Analysis on the CALQUEST Antenna System, which is a satellite terminal employed on small to medium-sized jet aircraft. The system provides single-channel voice, fax, and data services from the aircraft via the MSAT Satellite.
Also performed Reliability Assessments, Failure Modes and Effects Analysis (FMEA), Hazard Analysis, and FTA and Fungal Analyses on all electronic, electro-mechanical, and mechanical hardware of the Antenna AMT100 System, AMT 3800, AMT700, and the Airbus 350.
The AMT-700 HGA is a mechanically-steered antenna, consistent with the most current ARINC 781 specification, and is optimized for installation in the tail of aircraft. It is a small, light, high-performance solution ideal for installation on mid-size business aircraft, such as the Embraer 450/500 or the Bombardier CL300, but is also optimized for co-location with a Ku-band antenna on long-range business.
Nose Wheel Steering Computer
Performed the Reliability Prediction and Modeling Analysis, Failure Modes Effects and Criticality Analysis, Safety/Hazard Analyses, Fault Tree Analysis and Maintainability Analysis on the Nosewheel Steering Computer (NSC) which is a Line Replaceable Unit (LRU) for closed-loop control of the Lear Jet model 45 aircraft nosewheel steering system.
The NSC facilitates directional control of the nosewheel in response to the command from the pilot rudder pedals. This reliability assessment reflects the current design concept/configuration which is considered to be representative of the final flight equipment design.
Naval Projects
Aircraft Landing Light System
Performed reliability prediction and modeling analysis, system-level Failure Mode Effect and Criticality Analysis (FMECA), system-level safety/hazard analyses, availability modeling, maintainability analysis, fault tree analyses (FTA), spares analysis, and prepared RAMS program plans on the design of the shipboard aircraft landing light system for both Close Approach and Precision Approach Path Indicators, to safely guide aircraft onto the aircraft carrier deck.
Towed Array Detection System
Performed Reliability Assessments (both prediction and FMEA), safety/hazard analyses, fault tree analysis, OSHA, corrective and preventive maintenance analysis, Spares Analysis, and ILS support documentation, in accordance with Def-Stan 00-60 for the Towed Line Array Handling and Stowage Systems being utilized by the U.S. and Canadian governments.
These systems enable deployment and retrieval of the array at high speeds without impeding ship operations. Below-deck installation of the handling and stowage group winch systems provides an all-weather capability.
Combat Communications System
Performed reliability assessments, (predictions and FMECA), safety/hazard analyses, operation and support hazard analysis (OSHA), fault tree analysis, availability modeling, preventive and corrective maintenance analyses, and spares analysis during the design, development, and manufacture of the Shipboard Combat System Highway (CSH) System.
This platform was a high-integrity local area network fitted to UK Surface Ships, providing extremely reliable digital data communications services between the Platform's weapons, sensors, communications, and command system equipment.