The remaining life assessment (RLA) process is a reliability prediction process, which predicts amount of life left in a system. Remaining life assessment is performed on hardware, which has already seen operational life.
This project details with the remaining life assessment process in detail and also provides a case study of remaining life assessment performed on the Shuttle Remote Manipulator System (SRMS).
The electronics of Shuttle Remote Manipulator System was designed in the 1970s with a target application life of ten years. They have performed without any failures for over 20 years.
The remaining life assessment process was done to investigate if the life of the SRMS could be extended until the year 2020. The remaining life assessment concluded that the electronics could be extended until 2020 due to the robust design and lack of damage caused to the assemblies.
Source: University of Maryland
Author: Shetty, Vidyasagar