Availability measures for coherent systems of separately maintained components

Abstract

A coherent system of components, the failure pattern of each of which being assumed to be modelled by an alternating renewal process, is considered. Formulae are derived for the probability that the system is available at a series of points and for the expected numbers of failures and repairs of the system in a fixed interval. It is shown how the model can be generalised to permit each component to exhibit partial availability in the failed state.