DFTCalc : A Tool for Efficient Fault Tree Analysis ( extended

Effective risk management is a key to ensure that vital assets like our nuclear power plants, medical equipment, and power grids are dependable. Also, risk management is often required by law. Fault Tree Analysis (FTA) is a widely used methodology here, computing important dependability measures like system reliability and availability. This paper presents DFTCalc, a powerful tool for FTA that provides (1) efficient fault tree modelling via compact representations; (2) effective analysis, allowing a wide range of dependability properties to be analysed; (3) efficient analysis, via state-of-the-art stochastic techniques; and (4) a flexible and extensible framework, where gates can easily be changed or added. Technically, DFTCalc is realised via stochastic model checking, an innovative technique offering a wide plethora of powerful analysis techniques, including aggressive compression techniques to keep the underlying state space small.