Which of the following types of failure patterns would a time directed task usually target?

The correct answer is A. Age related . A time-directed task is justified when the probability of failure increases with age, operating hours, cycles, or accumulated use. In that case, scheduled replacement, restoration, overhaul, or inspection can reduce the likelihood of failure because the degradation pattern is predictable enough to act before functional failure. Random failures are not good targets for time-directed tasks because their failure probability does not increase simply because the item has reached a calendar age. Applying time-based maintenance to random failure modes can waste labor, replace useful components prematurely, and even introduce maintenance-induced defects. Infant mortality is also wrong because early-life failures usually come from design, manufacturing, installation, commissioning, quality, or workmanship defects. Those are better handled through quality control, commissioning, burn-in, precision installation, and defect elimination. In CRL Reliability Engineering for Maintenance, maintenance task selection must match failure behavior. RCM guidance confirms that scheduled restoration or replacement is justified where there is a clear age-related failure pattern.