Fuzzy fault tree analysis based on T–S model with application to INS/GPS navigation system

A novel fault tree analysis (FTA) technique based on the Takagi and Sugeno (T–S) model is proposed in this paper. In the proposed technique, referred to as the TS-FTA, the events in the conventional FTA can be expressed in terms of fuzzy possibilities, and the gates that represent the relations among the top event and the primary events are replaced by T–S fuzzy gates derived from the T–S model. The magnitudes of the faults in the system are expressed in term of fuzzy variables. Since the proposed TS-FTA is derived from fuzzy logic and the T–S model, it can readily handle fuzzy information and uncertainties in the relationships among events. Therefore, the TS-FTA is suitable for systems where exact information on the fault probabilities of the components and the failure mechanisms are not available. The proposed TS-FTA is applied to analyze the reliability of an Inertial Navigation System and Global Position System (INS/GPS) integrated navigation system.