Optimal mission abort policy for a balanced system with a restricted mechanism

Abstract

AbstractThe balanced system often performs key missions in many fields, such as aerospace, new energy storage, and the military. However, the failure of the system can cause major losses. Therefore, the mission needs to be aborted when the risk of system failure is higher. In this paper, the optimal mission abort policy for a k‐out‐of‐n: F balanced system is studied. The system with a restricted mechanism consists of m sectors and there are n components in each sector, in which the components fail due to two situations: internal failure or external shocks. If the number of working components in m sectors is the same, the system is balanced. If one component fails, the system will force down or resume a component with a probability to keep balance. The model of the mentioned system is established, and the Markov process imbedding approach is used for deriving the reliability indices. Two optimization models are established according to two competitive abort criteria. Finally, an unmanned aerial vehicle performing a mission is discussed to illustrate the proposed mission abort policy.