Root Cause Analysis and Failure Investigation Flashcards
6 cards from real CMRP practice questions. Tap to flip, then mark Knew It or Still Learning — missed cards come back until you master them.
Read the first 6 Root Cause Analysis and Failure Investigation flashcards as text
In root cause analysis, what is a 'physical root cause'?
Answer: The material or mechanical failure mechanism that directly caused the failure event
A physical root cause is the tangible, material-level mechanism—such as fatigue, corrosion, or overload—that was the proximate cause of the failure.
What does the '5 Whys' technique aim to achieve in failure analysis?
Answer: Iteratively asking 'why' to drill through symptoms to the underlying root cause
The 5 Whys technique peels back layers of symptoms by repeatedly asking why each condition exists, aiming to reach the true systemic or human root cause.
Which RCA tool uses a visual diagram resembling a fish skeleton to organize causes by category?
Answer: Ishikawa (fishbone) diagram
The Ishikawa diagram (also called a fishbone or cause-and-effect diagram) organizes potential causes into categories such as Machine, Method, Material, Man, Measurement, and Environment.
In CMRP terminology, what is a 'latent root cause'?
Answer: An underlying organizational or systemic weakness that allows physical and human root causes to exist
Latent root causes are the systemic, managerial, or cultural conditions (e.g., inadequate training, missing procedures) that enable failures to occur and recur.
What is the primary purpose of a failure reporting, analysis, and corrective action system (FRACAS)?
Answer: To systematically capture, analyze, and resolve failures so corrective actions prevent recurrence
FRACAS creates a closed-loop process: failures are reported, analyzed for root causes, and corrective actions are implemented and verified to prevent recurrence.
Which failure analysis technique uses a top-down, deductive logic diagram to identify all possible causes of a defined undesirable event?
Answer: Fault tree analysis (FTA)
Fault tree analysis starts with a defined top-level failure event and uses Boolean logic gates (AND/OR) to systematically map all combinations of lower-level causes that could lead to it.