Find how your design can fail before you build it. Ask Flux for a Failure Mode and Effects Analysis (FMEA), and Flux ranks the risks in your design and recommends actions to reduce them.
Flux can generate Failure Mode and Effects Analysis (FMEA) reports that identify potential failure modes in a design. The analysis reviews the schematic, components, and operational parameters to create a risk assessment report.
Overview
FMEA is a systematic method used in engineering to identify potential failure modes in a product or process, assess their impact, and prioritize mitigation actions. In PCB design, FMEA helps you:
Identify critical failure points before manufacturing
Assess risk levels for different failure modes
Prioritize design improvements based on severity and likelihood
Reduce manufacturing defects and field failures
Improve design reliability and quality
Document risk assessment for regulatory compliance
The FMEA Report Generation feature analyzes your entire design to create a structured report that identifies potential failure modes, evaluates their severity, occurrence probability, and detectability, and recommends specific mitigation actions.
How to Access FMEA Report Generation
Ask Flux to generate an FMEA report for your design.
You can also generate the report in the editor:
Open your PCB project in Flux.
Right-click in the editor.
Select Agent → Manufacturing Prep → Generate FMEA Report.
Flux analyzes your design and writes the FMEA report in the chat.
What the FMEA Analysis Includes
When you request an FMEA report, Flux performs a comprehensive analysis that includes:
Schematic analysis - Reviews circuit topology, connections, and signal flow
Component specifications - Examines each unique component's electrical characteristics, ratings, and limitations
Operational parameters - Evaluates voltage levels, current requirements, power dissipation, and environmental conditions
Failure mode identification - Identifies potential ways each component or subsystem could fail
Impact assessment - Determines the effects of each failure mode on overall system operation
Risk evaluation - Calculates risk priority numbers based on severity, occurrence, and detectability
Mitigation recommendations - Suggests specific actions to reduce risk for high-priority failure modes
Understanding the FMEA Table
The generated FMEA report is presented in a structured table format with the following columns:
Process Step / Component
Identifies the specific component, subsystem, or process being analyzed (e.g., "Power Supply Circuit", "Microcontroller U1", "Voltage Regulator").
Potential Failure Mode
Describes how the component or process could fail (e.g., "Short circuit", "Open connection", "Overvoltage", "Thermal runaway").
Potential Failure Effect
Explains the consequences of the failure on the overall system (e.g., "Complete system shutdown", "Reduced performance", "Data corruption").
S (Severity)
Rates the seriousness of the failure effect on a scale of 1-10:
1-3: Minor inconvenience, no significant impact
4-6: Moderate impact, reduced functionality
7-8: Serious impact, major functionality loss
9-10: Critical/catastrophic, safety hazard or complete failure
O (Occurrence)
Rates the likelihood of the failure occurring on a scale of 1-10:
1-2: Very unlikely, failure almost never occurs
3-4: Low probability, occasional failures
5-6: Moderate probability, failures occur periodically
7-8: High probability, failures occur frequently
9-10: Very high probability, failure is almost certain
D (Detectability)
Rates how difficult it is to detect the failure before it reaches the customer on a scale of 1-10:
1-2: Very easy to detect, obvious during testing
3-4: Easy to detect with standard tests
5-6: Moderate difficulty, requires specific tests
7-8: Difficult to detect, may escape testing
9-10: Very difficult or impossible to detect before delivery
RPN (Risk Priority Number)
Calculated as: RPN = S × O × D
The RPN helps prioritize which failure modes require immediate attention. Higher RPN values indicate higher risk:
RPN < 100: Low risk, monitor
RPN 100-200: Moderate risk, consider improvements
RPN > 200: High risk, requires mitigation action
Recommended Action
Specific suggestions to reduce the risk, such as:
Adding protective components (TVS diodes, fuses, etc.)
Implementing redundancy
Improving component selection
Adding monitoring circuits
Enhancing test procedures
Modifying design parameters
Step-by-Step Usage Instructions
1. Prepare Your Design
Ask Flux to prepare the schematic for the analysis.
Add the major components and connections to your schematic. Set component ratings and add the power supply and protection circuits.
2. Generate the FMEA Report
Ask Flux to generate the report.
You can also generate the report in the editor. Right-click in the editor and select Agent → Manufacturing Prep → Generate FMEA Report. Flux writes the FMEA table in the chat.
3. Review High-Risk Items
Ask Flux to list the high-risk items.
Focus first on failure modes with the highest RPN values. These represent the greatest risk to your design.
4. Implement Recommended Actions
Ask Flux to apply the recommended actions.
Use Flux's recommendations to reduce high-risk failure modes:
Add protective components.
Modify circuit topology.
Adjust component ratings or specifications.
Add redundancy for critical functions.
5. Regenerate the Report
Ask Flux to update the report.
After you implement changes, generate a new FMEA report and compare the RPN values for the items you addressed.
6. Document for Manufacturing
Ask Flux to save the report as a project document.
Use the report for manufacturing reviews, quality assurance, regulatory compliance, and future design revisions.
Example Use Cases
Power Supply Circuit Analysis
Ask Flux to generate an FMEA report for the power supply.
Generate an FMEA report to identify potential failure modes in your power supply design, such as overvoltage conditions, short circuits, or thermal issues. Flux recommends protective components like TVS diodes, fuses, and thermal management solutions.
High-Reliability Applications
Ask Flux to generate an FMEA report for the reliability requirements of your product.
For medical devices, aerospace, or industrial applications where reliability is critical, use FMEA to systematically identify and mitigate all potential failure modes before committing to manufacturing.
Design Review Preparation
Ask Flux to generate an FMEA report before the review.
Before a formal design review, generate an FMEA report to demonstrate that you've systematically analyzed potential failure modes and implemented appropriate mitigation strategies.
Pre-Manufacturing Risk Assessment
Ask Flux to generate an FMEA report before you order the boards.
Use FMEA as part of your Design for Manufacturing (DFM) process to identify and address potential issues before sending your design to fabrication.
Product and system risk assessment
Ask Flux to assess failure modes across the product and its mechanical and electrical parts.
Component Selection Validation
Ask Flux to generate an FMEA report that checks the ratings of the selected parts.
After selecting components for your design, generate an FMEA to verify that component ratings and specifications are appropriate for the application and operating conditions.
Related Features
FMEA Report Generation works well with other Flux capabilities:
AI Hardware Engineer - Ask Flux to review your design for issues beyond failure modes
Circuit simulation - Run transient, AC, DC, and operating-point analyses to evaluate circuit behavior.