Comparisons and bounds for expected lifetimes of reliability systems

Sharp bounds on expectations of lifetimes of coherent and mixed systems composed of elements with independent and either identically or non-identically distributed lifetimes are expressed in terms of expected lifetimes of components. Similar evaluations are concluded for the respective mean residual lifetimes. In the IID case, improved inequalities dependent on a concentration parameter connected to the Gini dispersion index are obtained. The results can be used to compare systems with component lifetimes ordered in the convex ordering. In the INID case, some refined bounds are derived in terms of the expected lifetimes of series systems of smaller sizes, and the expected lifetime of single unit for the equivalent systems with IID components. The latter can be further simplified in the case of weak Schur-concavity and Schur-convexity of the system generalized domination polynomial.     

Lifetime distribution and estimation problems of consecutive-k-out-of-n:F systems

Explicit formula is given for the lifetime distribution of a consecutive-k-out-of-n:F system. It is given as a linear combination of distributions of order statistics of the lifetimes of n components. We assume that the lifetimes are independent and identically distributed. The results should make it possible to treat the parametric estimation problems based on the observations of the lifetimes of the system. In fact, we take up, as some examples, the cases where the lifetimes of the components follow the exponential, the Weibull, and the Pareto distributions, and obtain feasible estimators by moment method. In particular, it is shown that the moment estimator is quite good for the exponential case in the sense that the asymptotic efficiency is close to one.This research was partially supported by the ISM Cooperative Research Program (94-ISM-CRP-5).     

The failure rate and likelihood ratio orderings of standby redundant systems

There are various notions of partial ordering between lifetimes of systems; stochastic ordering, failure rate ordering, and likelihood ratio ordering. In this paper we show that for series systems with noni.i.d. exponential lifetimes of components, standby redundancy at component level is better than that at system level in failure rate ordering and likelihood ratio ordering. We also demonstrate that for 2-component parallel systems withi.i.d. exponential lifetimes of components, standby system redundancy is better than standby component redundancy in failure rate ordering and likelihood ratio ordering.     

一种构造连生状态生命表的简单易行方法:方法和理论(英文)

在多生命模型中,几乎所有精算学教科书都假设被保险人的剩余寿命之间相互独立.本文中我们研究两生命模型.我们认为剩余寿命是正相依的,并用正象限相依描述相依性,给出了一种简单方法构造联合生命表.     

Reliability equivalence factors of a system with mixture of n independent and non-identical lifetimes with delay time

Recently, [1], [2] generalized the reliability equivalence technique to a system with mixed of two non-identical lifetimes with delay time. The aim of this study is to generalize reliability equivalence technique to apply it to a system of mixture of n independent and non-identical lifetimes with delay time. We shall improve the system by using some reliability techniques: (i) reducing the failure for some lifetimes; (ii) add hot duplication components; (iii) add cold duplication components; and (iv) add cold duplication components with imperfect switches. We start by establishing two different types of reliability equivalence factors, the survival reliability equivalence (SRE) and mean reliability equivalence (MRE) factors. Also, we introduced some numerical results and conclusions.     

Estimation of the mean lifetime in non-parametric model under modified type I censoring

The methods to estimate the means of the lifetimes under modified Type I Censoring are discussed, in which case the distribution function of the lifetimes is unknown and the information about the individuals is cut by the fixed timeC. As a slight modification, we suggest observing small percentage of the lifetimes to construct the estimations. These estimations are unbiased and consistent.     

New results on comparisons of parallel systems with heterogeneous gamma components

This paper discusses ordering properties of lifetimes of parallel systems with two independent heterogeneous gamma components in terms of dispersive and star orders. It is proved, among others, that the p-larger order between the two scale vectors implies the dispersive order and the star order between lifetimes of two parallel systems. Another sufficient condition is also provided for the star order between the lifetimes of two parallel systems. The results established here extend some of the known results in the literature.     

On allocating redundancies to k‐out‐of‐ n reliability systems

For two components in series and one redundancy with their lifetimes following the proportional hazard models, we build the likelihood ratio order and the hazard rate order for lifetimes of the redundant systems. Also, for k ‐out‐of‐ n system with components’ lifetimes having the arrangement increasing joint density and the redundancies having identically distributed lifetimes, allocating more redundancies to weaker components is shown to help improve the system's reliability. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

On random age and remaining lifetime for populations of items

We consider items that are incepted into operation having already a random (initial) age and define the corresponding remaining lifetime. We show that these lifetimes are identically distributed when the age distribution is equal to the equilibrium distribution of the renewal theory. Then we develop the population studies approach to the problem and generalize the setting in terms of stationary and stable populations of items. We obtain new stochastic comparisons for the corresponding population ages and remaining lifetimes that can be useful in applications. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Extensions of system signatures to dependent lifetimes: Explicit expressions and interpretations

The concept of system signature was introduced by Samaniego for systems whose components have i.i.d. lifetimes. We consider its extension to the continuous dependent case and give an explicit expression for this extension as a difference of weighted means of the structure function values. We then derive a formula for the computation of the coefficients of these weighted means in the special case of independent continuous lifetimes. Finally, we interpret this extended concept of signature through a natural least squares approximation problem.     

On the hazard rate and reversed hazard rate orderings in two-component series systems with active redundancies

The lifetimes of two-component series systems with two active redundancies are compared using the hazard rate and the reversed hazard rate orders. We study the problem of where to allocate the spares in a system to obtain the best configuration. We compare redundancy at component level vs. system level using the likelihood ratio order. For this problem we find conditions under which there is no hazard rate ordering between the lifetimes of the systems.     

Some results on information properties of coherent systems

This paper considers information properties of coherent systems when component lifetimes are independent and identically distributed. Some results on the entropy of coherent systems in terms of ordering properties of component distributions are proposed. Moreover, various sufficient conditions are given under which the entropy order among systems as well as the corresponding dual systems hold. Specifically, it is proved that under some conditions, the entropy order among component lifetimes is preserved under coherent system formations. The findings are based on system signatures as a useful measure from comparison purposes. Furthermore, some results on the system's entropy are derived when lifetimes of components are dependent and identically distributed. Several illustrative examples are also given.     

Statistical inference for coherent systems with Weibull distributed component lifetimes under complete and incomplete information

Point estimators for the parameters of the component lifetime distribution in coherent systems are evolved assuming to be independently and identically Weibull distributed component lifetimes. We study both complete and incomplete information under continuous monitoring of the essential component lifetimes. First, we prove that the maximum likelihood estimator (MLE) under complete information based on progressively Type‐II censored system lifetimes uniquely exists and we present two approaches to compute the estimates. Furthermore, we consider an ad hoc estimator, a max‐probability plan estimator and the MLE for the parameters under incomplete information. In order to compute the MLEs, we consider a direct maximization of the likelihood and an EM‐algorithm–type approach, respectively. In all cases, we illustrate the results by simulations of the five‐component bridge system and the 10‐component parallel system, respectively.     

A note on multiple life premiums for dependent lifetimes

We study the properties of multiple life annuity and insurance premiums for general symmetric and survival statuses in the case when the joint distribution of future lifetimes has a dependence structure belonging to some nonparametric neighbourhood of independence. The size of the neighbourhood is controlled by a single parameter, which enables us to model really weak as well as stronger dependencies. We provide bounds on the difference of multiple life premiums for vectors of dependent and independent future lifetimes with the same univariate marginal distributions. Each such upper bound can be treated as a premium loading related to the strength of lifetimes’ dependence.     

Comparisons of mixed systems with decreasing failure rate component lifetimes using dispersive order

Because lifetimes of systems are not deterministic, partially, orders are used for comparison purposes which lead us to provide optimal system configurations. This paper deals with a signature‐based dispersive ordering of mixed systems. It is assumed that component lifetimes are independent and identically distributed, and the common distribution has a decreasing failure rate function. Some illustrative examples are also given.     

双侧截断数据的中位数回归(英文)

在很多实际应用中,个体寿命时间可能被同时左截断与右截断.本文在左右截断变量都能被观察到的假设下,提出了一种半参数推断方法,来分析协变量对于相应寿命时间或其某种变换的中位数的影响,并讨论了所得估计量的渐近性质.此外,本文还提供了一种基于经验似然的回归参数推断方法,并讨论了将这些方法推广到经典双侧截断数据的可能性.一些模拟计算被用于展示这些方法的有效性.     

Optimal redundancy allocation problems in engineering systems with dependent component lifetimes

This paper deals with the problem of allocating spare components for improving the system reliability when lifetimes of components are dependent. Two policies, called active and standby redundancies, are investigated in details. The optimal allocations are given without specific assumptions on the dependency structure among the component lifetimes. When there exist the (positive/negative) quadratic dependence and (upper/lower) orthant order among the component lifetimes, the derived results are simplified. Various illustrative examples are also given. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Modelling redundancy allocation for a fuzzy random parallel-series system

Due to subjective judgment, imprecise human knowledge and perception in capturing statistical data, the real data of lifetimes in many systems are both random and fuzzy in nature. Based on the fuzzy random variables that are used to characterize the lifetimes, this paper studies the redundancy allocation problems to a fuzzy random parallel-series system.Two fuzzy random redundancy allocation models (FR-RAM) are developed through reliability maximization and cost minimization, respectively. Some properties of the FR-RAM are obtained, in which an analytical formula of reliability with convex lifetimes is derived and the sensitivity of the reliability is discussed. To solve the FR-RAMs, we first address the computation of reliability. A random simulation method based on the derived analytical formula is proposed to compute the reliability with convex lifetimes. As for the reliability with nonconvex lifetimes, the technique of fuzzy random simulation together with the discretization method of fuzzy random variable is employed to compute the reliability, and a convergence theorem of the fuzzy random simulation is proved. Subsequently, we integrate the computation approaches of the reliability and genetic algorithm (GA) to search for the approximately optimal redundancy allocation of the models. Finally, some numerical examples are provided to illustrate the feasibility of the solution algorithm and quantify its effectiveness.     

Stochastic properties of two general versions of the residual lifetime at random times

This paper studies 2 different versions of the general residual lifetime at random times in the context of statistical dependence between the system lifetime and the random time. We prove that the class of residual lifetimes with a semiindependent random age is equivalent to the class of residual lifetimes at independent random times. Additionally, we conduct stochastic comparisons of the 2 versions of the general residual lifetime at random times. Several numerical examples are presented to illustrate the ordering results.     

Nonparametric estimation under length-biased sampling and Type I censoring: A moment based approach

Observation of lifetimes by means of cross-sectional surveys typically results in left-truncated, right-censored data. In some applications, it may be assumed that the truncation variable is uniformly distributed on some time interval, leading to the so-called length-biased sampling. This information is relevant, since it allows for more efficient estimation of survival and related parameters. In this work we introduce and analyze new empirical methods in the referred scenario, when the sampled lifetimes are at risk of Type I censoring from the right. We illustrate the method with real economic data. Work supported by the Grants PGIDIT02PXIA30003PR and BFM2002-03213.