CRE ASQ Certified Reliability Engineer Practice Questions
Prepare for CRE with more than an answer.
- Exam fee
- $550 USD
- Time limit
- 258 minutes
- Passing score
- 550/750
- Level
- Professional
- Valid for
- 3 years
Domains covered on the exam 5
- Reliability Fundamentals19.33%
- Risk Management16.67%
- Probability and Statistics for Reliability23.33%
- Reliability Planning, Testing, and Modeling23.33%
- Lifecycle Reliability17.33%
- 1
The ___________ uses a graphical representation linking project tasks against a calendar to help reliability engineers manage requirements, visualize scheduling, and identify project progress over time.
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Correct answer: B
A Gantt chart is a bar chart that graphically represents a project schedule, showing the start and finish dates of elements of a project. While CPM is used to calculate the longest path of planned activities, the Gantt chart provides the specific visual calendar-based representation described in the prompt.
- 2
When an organization transitions a standard Failure Mode and Effects Analysis (FMEA) into a Failure Mode, Effects, and Criticality Analysis (FMECA) for a safety-critical aerospace subsystem, what specific analytical dimension is integrated into the process?
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Correct answer: B
The 'C' in FMECA stands for Criticality. While an FMEA identifies failure modes and assigns a Risk Priority Number (RPN) based on severity, occurrence, and detection, an FMECA adds a specific Criticality Analysis. This is often a quantitative or semi-quantitative calculation that plots the probability of a failure mode occurring against the severity of its consequence, strictly prioritizing items that have severe safety or mission impacts.
- 3
A fault tree has a Top Event triggered by an OR gate. The OR gate receives inputs from Event A (Probability = 0.10) and an AND gate. The AND gate receives inputs from Event B (Probability = 0.20) and Event C (Probability = 0.30). Assuming all basic events are statistically independent, what is the probability of the Top Event occurring?
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Correct answer: A
First, calculate the probability of the AND gate (Events B and C occurring together): P(AND) = P(B) * P(C) = 0.20 * 0.30 = 0.06. Next, calculate the OR gate for the Top Event (Event A or the AND gate result). P(Top) = P(A) + P(AND) - (P(A) * P(AND)) = 0.10 + 0.06 - (0.10 * 0.06) = 0.16 - 0.006 = 0.154.
graph TD Top[Top Event] --> OR{OR Gate} OR --> A[Event A: 0.10] OR --> AND{AND Gate: 0.06} AND --> B[Event B: 0.20] AND --> C[Event C: 0.30] - 4
A critical system features dual redundant power supplies designed to ensure continuous operation if one fails. However, a sudden lightning strike causes a power surge that destroys both power supplies simultaneously. In reliability engineering, this scenario is a classic example of:
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Correct answer: B
A common mode failure (or common cause failure) occurs when multiple redundant components or systems fail simultaneously or within a short timeframe due to a single shared root cause, such as an environmental extreme (lightning strike), a shared power source, or a systemic design flaw. This defeats the purpose of redundancy.
- 5
Which phase of the traditional reliability bathtub curve is primarily characterized by a decreasing failure rate over time, and is typically addressed through manufacturing quality controls and environmental stress screening (ESS)?
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Correct answer: C
The infant mortality phase is the first part of the bathtub curve, characterized by a decreasing failure rate. These early failures are typically caused by manufacturing defects, poor quality control, or substandard materials. They are mitigated through techniques like Environmental Stress Screening (ESS) or burn-in testing before the product reaches the customer.
- 6
A manufacturing production line operates with an availability of 90%, a performance efficiency of 80%, and a quality yield of 95%. Based on these metrics, what is the Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE) of the line?
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Correct answer: A
Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE) is calculated by multiplying three factors: Availability, Performance, and Quality. OEE = 0.90 (Availability) * 0.80 (Performance) * 0.95 (Quality) = 0.684, or 68.4%. This metric is crucial for performance monitoring in reliability engineering to track true manufacturing productivity.
