Redundancy allocation problem in a bridge system with dependent subsystems

Abstract

The redundancy allocation problem is an important problem in system reliability design. Many researchers have investigated the redundancy allocation problem under different assumptions and for various system configurations. However, most of the studies have disregarded the dependence among components and subsystems. In real-world applications, the performance of components and subsystems can affect each others. For instance, the heat radiated by a subsystem can accelerate degradation of adjacent components or subsystems. In this article, a procedure is proposed for solving the redundancy allocation problem of a bridge structure with dependent subsystems. Copula theory is utilized for modeling dependence among subsystems, and artificial neural network and particle swarm optimization are applied for finding the best redundancy allocation. A numerical example is included to elaborate the proposed procedure and show its applicability.