Operability is the ability to keep a piece of equipment, a

system A system is a group of Interaction, interacting or interrelated elements that act according to a set of rules to form a unified whole. A system, surrounded and influenced by its environment (systems), environment, is described by its boundaries, ...

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 computing machinery. It includes the study and experimentation of algorithmic processes, and development of both hardware and software. Computing has scientific, e ...

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 by people or equipment in which a specific sequence produces a service or product (serves a particular business goal) for a parti ...

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, also called a combustion turbine, is a type of continuous flow internal combustion engine. The main parts common to all gas turbine engines form the power-producing part (known as the gas generator or core) and are, in the directi ...

, 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, ie 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 functi ...

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 * High availability * Reliability (computer networking), a ...

, supportability and

maintainability In engineering, maintainability is the ease with which a product can be maintained to: * correct defects or their cause, * Repair or replace faulty or worn-out components without having to replace still working parts, * prevent unexpected working ...

. 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 {{Comp-sci-stub