The aim of the analysis can be either qualitative or quantitative, in turn, we can
use the same criteria to classify the supporting techniques. In particular, there
are techniques that only support qualitative analysis, such as PHA, HAZOP, and
FFA, while most of the remaining ones in the list can be used for both qualitative
and quantitative analyses. The main objectives of the qualitative analysis are the
identification of the component failure modes, their consequences at system level,
and the cause–effect paths, as well as the determination of possible repair/recovery
strategies. The quantitative analysis aims at defining numerical reference data to
be used as input parameters of reliability/availability models, estimating availability/
reliability metrics, under probabilistic or stochastic assumptions, performing
component criticality and sensitivity analysis.