Enabling the usage of UML in the verification of railway systems: The DAM-rail approach

The need for integration of model-based verification into industrial processes has produced several attempts to define Model-Driven solutions implementing a unifying approach to system development. A recent trend is to implement tool chains supporting the developer both in the design phase and V&V activities. In this Model-Driven context, specific domains require proper modelling approaches, especially for what concerns RAM (Reliability, Availability, Maintainability) analysis and fulfillment of international standards. This paper specifically addresses the definition of a Model-Driven approach for the evaluation of RAM attributes in railway applications to automatically generate formal models. For this aim we extend the MARTE-DAM UML profile with concepts related to maintenance aspects and service degradation, and show that the MARTE-DAM framework can be successfully specialized for the railway domain. Model transformations are then defined to generate Repairable Fault Tree and Bayesian Network models from MARTE-DAM specifications. The whole process is applied to the railway domain in two different availability studies. (C) 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.