Reliability Block Diagrams (RBD) in Power BI
A Power BI reliability block diagram visual that shows which combinations of components keep a system running, drawn from the rows in your report. Series paths, parallel redundancy, standby components and m-out-of-n voting are laid out from input to output, with reliability, status or any other column shown on the diagram when you want it.
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Redundancy, drawn properly
Parallel paths, standby components, switches and m-out-of-n blocks, with m/n written under each voting block.
IEC 61078 or your own look
The IEC 61078:2016 profile and a Custom look share the same data, so switching never changes the structure.
Shared dependencies and common causes
External elements and dependency connections show a shared dependency or a common cause failure that affects several blocks at once.
About the method
What is a reliability block diagram?
A reliability block diagram (RBD) shows how the success of a system depends on its parts. Blocks in series must all work, blocks in parallel provide redundancy, and m-out-of-n arrangements, also written k-out-of-n, need a minimum number of their blocks, so the diagram shows which failures a system can survive.
Also known as
- RBD
- Reliability block model
Common uses include
- Reliability analysis
- Availability and uptime
- RAM analysis
- Redundancy design
- IT and infrastructure resilience
- Asset management
Reliability block diagrams can be used wherever successful operation depends on combinations of components or subsystems, from plant and power networks to IT services, communications networks and production lines.
Review one section at a time
Each row names a block and the block it leads to, and the paths are drawn side by side from input to output. Collapse a block and the blocks it leads to are hidden, so you can review one section without the rest in the way. Expand it and they come back. Add a Diagram ID and one table holds several diagrams, so a slicer or the diagram picker can switch between systems, architectures or scenarios.
Bring condition into the diagram
Colour blocks by status with your own rules, write reliability or any other column beside them, and count components, subsystems and standby components by status in the summary strip. Click a count and those blocks are highlighted while the rest fade, with nothing filtered out. Select a block and the Node Inspector lists what your table holds for it, and Focus branch keeps its path in view.
Broken paths caught as you build
Remove a column the diagram needs and the Validation tab says what broke: no complete path from input to output, how many pieces the diagram has split into, and which field is missing. Put the column back and it reads Validation clear. Voting is checked too: m must be a whole number no larger than n, and n must match the blocks that feed it.
Your data
A redundant cooling water system in fifteen rows
A power supply, a duty pump with a standby in parallel, a heat exchanger train, and three transmitters voting two out of three. Reliability and the vote counts go in Values, set to Don't summarize.
| Node ID | Connected Node ID | Node Type | Label | Relationship Type | Reliability | Vote Threshold | Vote Input Count |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| IN | PSU | Input | Cooling demand | ||||
| PSU | SPLIT | Component | Power supply PSU-1 | 0.998 | |||
| SPLIT | PMP-A | Parallel Junction | Pump split | Parallel | |||
| SPLIT | PMP-B | Parallel Junction | Pump split | Standby | |||
| PMP-A | MERGE | Component | Duty pump P-101A | 0.95 | |||
| PMP-B | MERGE | Standby Component | Standby pump P-101B | 0.93 | |||
| MERGE | HX | Parallel Junction | Pump merge | ||||
| HX | TT-1 | Subsystem | Heat exchanger train | 0.99 | |||
| HX | TT-2 | Subsystem | Heat exchanger train | 0.99 | |||
| HX | TT-3 | Subsystem | Heat exchanger train | 0.99 | |||
| TT-1 | VOTE | Component | Temperature transmitter TT-1 | 0.985 | |||
| TT-2 | VOTE | Component | Temperature transmitter TT-2 | 0.985 | |||
| TT-3 | VOTE | Component | Temperature transmitter TT-3 | 0.985 | |||
| VOTE | OUT | Voting | Trip logic | 2 | 3 | ||
| OUT | Output | Cooling delivered |
What it draws
Every block, junction and connection
Drawn in a Custom look by default, with a profile designed with reference to IEC 61078:2016, Reliability block diagrams, one setting away.
Blocks
- Input terminal
- Component
- Subsystem
- Standby component
- Switch
- m-out-of-n block
- Repeated block
- Inverted repeated block
- External element
- Output terminal
Junctions and gates
- Series junction
- Parallel junction
- NOT gate
- Priority AND gate
- Sequential gate
- Transfer in
- Transfer out
Connections
- Series path
- Parallel path
- Standby path
- Bypass
- Dependency
Validation
Checked against the rules of the method as you build
The Validation tab lists anything that breaks these rules and where it is, so the diagram is right before it reaches a review.
- A path runs from the input to the output
- Nothing leads into the input, and nothing follows the output
- m is a whole number of 1 or more, and no more than n
- n matches the blocks connected to an m-out-of-n block
- Every block except the output leads somewhere
- No cycles, apart from dependencies
Getting started
From your table to reliability block diagrams in a report
Install from Marketplace
In Power BI Desktop, open Get more visuals, search for Ataytis Assurance, and add it.
Add your table
Put Node ID, Connected Node ID and Node Type in Data fields, and any values you want to show, such as Reliability, in Values.
Choose Reliability Block Diagram
Select the visual, open More options (…) and choose Edit, then pick Reliability Block Diagram in the Diagram type list on the left.
Licence it to publish
Power BI Desktop needs no licence. Readers in the Power BI Service do, with the first 30 days free.
Pricing
One licence includes all six analysis modes
Reliability Block Diagram is included alongside Fault Tree Analysis, Bow-Tie Risk Analysis, Event Tree Analysis, Goal Structuring Notation and Markov State Diagram. Ataytis Assurance is licensed per user: $4.99 per user per month for small teams, dropping to $2.49 for 500 users or more. The first month is free on every plan, billed by Microsoft.
Licensing a large team or a whole organisation? Request an enterprise quote
Also in Ataytis Assurance
The other analysis modes in the same visual
Every licence includes all six. Switch mode in the editor, and each one keeps its own mapping, layout and look.
Fault Tree Analysis
How could this top event happen?
Explore fault treesBow-Tie Risk Analysis
What can go wrong, what prevents it, and what limits the consequences?
Explore bow-tiesEvent Tree Analysis
What follows an initiating event, and how often?
Explore event treesGoal Structuring Notation
Does the argument for a claim hold together?
Explore goal structuresMarkov State Diagram
How does a system move between states over time?
Explore Markov diagramsQuestions
Reliability Block Diagram questions
Your next reliability block diagram, in Power BI
Build it in Power BI Desktop with no licence and nothing to sign up for. A licence only comes into it when the report is published for others to open.