Reliability of mission-based k-out-of-n systems with exponential phase durations and component lifetimes

Abstract

This paper focuses on the reliability analysis of [Formula: see text]-out-of-[Formula: see text] systems which are designed to perform a given mission consisting of several distinct phases. As the phases of the mission change, the reliability characteristics of the system and the system structure vary accordingly. The phase transition probabilities, phase durations, and component failure rates are dependent on the number of operating components. Moreover, the system is allowed to have cold, warm, or hot standby components. We propose computationally tractable methods to compute the system reliability, mean time to failure, and long-run availability for such a general system structure. We also provide a numerical analysis to show the applicability and the empirical computational complexity of the proposed methods.