Fault Tree Analysis and Event Tree Analysis: Theory, Comparison and Application in Risk Assessment

Abstract

Amid the escalating complexity of contemporary industrial and engineering systems, risk evaluation that is both accurate and systematically structured has become increasingly necessary to ensure system safety and to avert major accidents. Fault Tree Analysis (FTA) as well as Event Tree Analysis (ETA) are distinct foundational approaches within probabilistic risk assessment that are taken as the central objects of study. The discussion sets out the theoretical underpinnings, logical analytic procedures, and typical application domains of FTA and ETA; on that basis, a systematic comparison is developed regarding their respective strengths in risk identification, causal analysis, and consequence forecasting. Within this analytical framing, FTA employs deductive reasoning to trace top failure events back to underlying basic causes as well as to the logical combinations of contributing factors that produce those events. ETA proceeds conversely through inductive reasoning: beginning from initiating events, it projects accident evolution pathways and estimates the eventual outcomes associated with those initiating conditions. Widely are these methods deployed across high-risk sectors. In synthesis of these considerations, the paper provides a dependable theoretical foundation for selecting risk assessment models rationally while supporting scientifically grounded decision-making in system safety management together with risk prevention and control.