Operability is the ability to keep a piece of equipment, a
system
A system is a group of interacting or interrelated elements that act according to a set of rules to form a unified whole. A system, surrounded and influenced by its open system (systems theory), environment, is described by its boundaries, str ...
or a whole industrial installation in a safe and reliable functioning condition, according to pre-defined operational requirements.
In a
computing
Computing is any goal-oriented activity requiring, benefiting from, or creating computer, computing machinery. It includes the study and experimentation of algorithmic processes, and the development of both computer hardware, hardware and softw ...
systems environment with multiple systems this includes the ability of products, systems and
business process
A business process, business method, or business function is a collection of related, structured activities or tasks performed by people or equipment in which a specific sequence produces a service or product (that serves a particular business g ...
es to work together to accomplish a common task such as finding and returning availability of inventory for flight.
For a
gas turbine engine
A gas turbine or gas turbine engine is a type of Internal combustion engine#Continuous combustion, continuous flow internal combustion engine. The main parts common to all gas turbine engines form the power-producing part (known as the gas gene ...
, operability addresses the installed aerodynamic operation of the engine
["Aircraft Propulsion Systems Technology and Design, Gordon C. Oates, AIAA Education Series, Chapter 6] to ensure that it operates with care-free throttle handling without
compressor stall or surge or combustor flame-out. There must be no unacceptable loss of power or handling deterioration after ingesting birds, rain and hail or ingesting or accumulating ice. Design and development responsibilities include the components through which the thrust/power-producing flow passes, i.e. the intake, compressor, combustor, fuel system, turbine and exhaust. They also include the software in the computers which control the way the engine changes its speed in response to the actions of the pilot in selecting a start, selecting different idle settings and higher power ratings such as take-off, climb and cruise. The engine has to start to idle and accelerate and decelerate within agreed, or mandated, times while remaining within operating limits (shaft speeds, turbine temperature, combustor casing pressure) over the required aircraft operating envelope.
Operability is considered one of the
ilities
In systems engineering and requirements engineering, a non-functional requirement (NFR) is a requirement that specifies criteria that can be used to judge the operation of a system, rather than specific behaviours. They are contrasted with functio ...
and is closely related to
reliability
Reliability, reliable, or unreliable may refer to:
Science, technology, and mathematics Computing
* Data reliability (disambiguation), a property of some disk arrays in computer storage
* Reliability (computer networking), a category used to des ...
,
supportability and
maintainability
Maintainability is the ease of maintaining or providing maintenance for a functioning product or service. Depending on the field, it can have slightly different meanings.
Usage in different fields Engineering
In engineering, maintainability ...
.
Operability also refers to whether or not a surgical operation can be performed to treat a patient with a reasonable degree of safety and chance of success.
References
External links
Software Operability
Computer systems
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