mean cycles between failure (MCBF)

Mean Cycles Between Failure (MCBF) is a specification used for the failure frequency of electronic and electromechanical components and storage units such as tape drives.

The MCBF value is a failure value that depends on the mean number of use activities. In the case of a relay, this can be the number of switching cycles that a relay switches without failure. It is an empirical value of manufacturing quality. The MCBF value can be determined by the predetermined number of fault-free switching cycles and the number of faults.

Like mean time between failures( MTBF), the MCBF value is used to specify product reliability. For tape drives, the MCBF value is around 1 to 2 million cycles. There is a relationship over time between the MCBF value and the Mean Time Between Failures (MTBF). To do this, the MCBF must be divided by the switching cycles.