Finite Degradation Structures: a Formal Framework to Support the Interface between MBSE and MBSA

In this article, we propose to use finite degradation structures to support the interface between model-based systems engineering (MBSE) and model-based safety assessment (MBSA). Finite degradation structures are an algebraic framework, recently introduced by the authors, that captures the essential notion of degradation order between the states of a system. They make it possible to describe in a formal way under which conditions a safety model is an abstraction of another one. For this reason, they provide the mathematical ground on which methods to synchronize models designed by systems architects and those designed by safety analysts can be built. We illustrate the proposed approach by means of an example stemmed from industrial practice.