Multistate reliability models

Abstract

In this paper an axiomatic development of multistate systems is presented. Three types of coherence based on the strength of the relevancy axiom are studied. The strongest of these has been investigated previously by El-Neweihi, Proschan, and Sethuraman [3]. One of the weaker types of coherence permits wider applicability to real life situations without sacrificing any of the mathematical results obtained by El-Neweihi, Proschan, and Sethuraman. The concept of system performance is formalized through expected utility and the effect of component improvement on system performance is studied using a generalization of Birnbaum's reliability importance.