Glossary · Systems engineering and MBSE
Coupling analysis
German: Kopplungsanalyse
In systems engineering, coupling analysis is the analysis of how connected machines, functions, hazards, failures and controls influence one another. It looks for effects that arise only through the connection.
- Integrated systems
- Functional safety
- German source term
In one sentence
Coupling analysis shows how connected machines, functions, failures and controls influence each other, revealing hazards no single machine has alone.
Example
A coupling analysis of a press line shows that a stop of the downstream transfer robot leaves parts in the press opening, which creates an ejection hazard at restart.
How it applies
- Integrated systems: Analyze couplings through energy, material, data, commands and shared areas. Each coupling is an interface that can transmit a fault.
- Machine safety: The output is a list of interaction hazards and shared controls that the risk assessment of the whole system must cover.
- Functional safety: Couplings can create dependencies between supposedly independent channels. Check them against the assumptions made for common-cause failures.
- Evidence: Record the couplings with their analysis method. Structured methods such as HAZOP guide words can be adapted to interfaces.
Coupling analysis vs. risk assessment of a single machine
The risk assessment of a single machine treats its neighbors as environment. Coupling analysis treats the connections themselves as the object of study. Its results feed the risk assessment of the whole integrated system rather than replacing it.