Optimal allocation of redundancies in series systems

It is of great interest for the problem of how to allocate redundancies in a system so as to optimize the system performance in reliability engineering and system security. In this paper, we consider the problems of optimal allocation of both active and standby redundancies in series systems in the sense of various stochastic orderings. For the case of allocating one redundancy to a series system with two exponential components, we establish two likelihood ratio order results for active redundancy case and standby redundancy case, respectively. We also discuss the case of allocating K active redundancies to a series system and establish some new results. The results developed here strengthen and generalize some of the existing results in the literature. Specifically, we give an answer to an open problem mentioned in Hu and Wang [T. Hu, Y. Wang, Optimal allocation of active redundancies in r-out-of-n systems, Journal of Statistical Planning and Inference 139 (2009) 3733–3737]. Numerical examples are provided to illustrate the theoretic results established here.     

Redundancy allocation at component level versus system level

In this paper, we treat the problem of stochastic comparison of standby [active] redundancy at component level versus system level. In the case of standby redundancy, we present some interesting comparison results of both series systems and parallel systems in the sense of various stochastic orderings for both the matching spares case and non-matching spares case, respectively. In the case of active redundancy, a likelihood ratio ordering result of series systems is presented for the matching spares case; and for the non-matching spares case, a counterexample is provided to show that there does not exist similar result even for the hazard rate ordering. The results established here strengthen and generalize some of those known in the literature. Some numerical examples are also provided to illustrate the theoretical results.     

On redundant weighted voting systems with components having stochastic arrangement increasing lifetimes

As one generalization of the k-out-of-n structure, the weighted voting system has been paid much attention during the past two decades. This paper has a further study on active redundancies allocation to weighted voting reliability systems of components having LWSAI lifetimes. For redundancies with SAI lifetimes, allocating a more reliable redundancy to a weaker and more heavily weighted component is found to produce a more reliable system in the sense of having higher reliability. Also, in the context of redundancies with identically distributed lifetimes, we show that allocating more redundancies to a weaker and more heavily weighted component produces a more reliable system. Some numerical examples are presented to illustrate the main results as well.     

Allocations of cold standbys to series and parallel systems with dependent components

In the context of industrial engineering, cold‐standby redundancies allocation strategy is usually adopted to improve the reliability of coherent systems. This paper investigates optimal allocation strategies of cold standbys for series and parallel systems comprised of dependent components with left/right tail weakly stochastic arrangement increasing lifetimes. For the case of heterogeneous and independent matched cold standbys, it is proved that better redundancies should be put in the nodes having weaker [better] components for series [parallel] systems. For the case of homogeneous and independent cold standbys, it is shown that more redundancies should be put in standby with weaker [better] components to enhance the reliability of series [parallel] systems. The results developed here generalize and extend those corresponding ones in the literature to the case of series and parallel systems with dependent components. Numerical examples are also presented to provide guidance for the practical use of our theoretical findings.     

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.     

Stochastic comparisons of component and system redundancies with dependent components

Under the assumption of dependent identically distributed components and redundant (spares) components, the problem of stochastic comparison of component and system redundancies have been considered. This study has been carried out under the criteria of the likelihood ratio ordering, the reversed failure rate ordering, the failure rate ordering and the usual stochastic ordering.     

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 relevation transform involved with statistical dependence between two component lifetimes

Krakowski (Rev Fr Autom Inform Rech Opèr. 1973;7:107–120.) introduced the relevation transform for component and active redundancy with independent lifetimes, and except for Johnson and Kotz (Am J Math Manag Sci. 1981;1:155–165; Nav Res Logist. 1983;30:163–169.) most subsequent researches were conducted under this framework. However, it is not uncommon that a component and its active redundancy bear some common stresses due to the environment and thus they have dependent lifetimes. In this note, we equip the involved lifetimes with a survival copula and then clarify the potential difference between the new and classical versions through making stochastic comparison. Moreover, by ordering the lifetime of system with relevation redundancy we also study the way of allocating a relevation redundancy at component level to ultimately improve the system reliability. The present results on series and parallel systems serve as a generalization of the corresponding ones of Belzunce et al. (Appl Stoch Models Bus Ind. 2019;35:492–503.). Several numerical examples are presented to illustrate these findings as well.     

Some new results involving general standby systems

This article presents a stochastic comparison on the total lifetime of the general standby system and a discussion of the optimal allocation of a general standby component in a series system with two independent components. Several examples are also presented to justify the main results, which provide nice generalizations of some existing conclusions in the literature. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Modelling a general standby system and evaluation of its performance

Redundancy or standby is a technique that has been widely applied to improving system reliability and availability in system design. In this paper, a general method for modelling standby system is proposed and system performance measures are derived. It is shown that the proposed general standby system includes the cases of cold, hot and warm standby systems with units of exponential distribution, which were studied in the literature, as special cases. An optimal allocation problem for a standby system is also discussed. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

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.     

开关寿命连续型n部件冷贮备系统的可靠性分析

为了讨论由n个同型部件和一个转换开关组成的冷贮备不可修系统的可靠度,假设部件的工作时间和转换开关的寿命均服从指数分布、所有随机变量均相互独立,首先根据系统的特征和可靠度的定义研究并求出三部件冷储备系统可靠度的解析式,然后在三部件冷储备系统可靠度研究的基础上建立了n部件冷贮备系统的可靠性关于部件个数n的递推关系式,最终得到系统的可靠度的解析表达式.计算过程对其他多部件系统可靠度的推导有一定的借鉴作用,计算结果具有一定的理论价值.     

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.     

Reliability analysis of two-unit cold standby repairable systems under Poisson shocks

This paper analyses the reliability of a cold standby system consisting of two repairable units, a switch and a repairman. At any time, one of the two units is operating while the other is on cold standby. The repairman may not always at the job site, or take vacation. We assume that shocks can attack the operating unit. The arrival times of the shocks follow a homogeneous Poisson process and their magnitude is a random variable following a known distribution. Time on repairing a failed unit and the length of repairman’s vacation follow general continuous probability distributions, respectively. The paper derives a number of reliability indices: system reliability, mean time to first failure, steady-state availability, and steady-state failure frequency.     

在常规故障和临界人为错误条件下具有易损坏储备部件复杂系统的可靠性分析

讨论了一个由两个部件和一个储备部件并且具有临界人为错误和常规故障的随机模型,研究了易损坏部件对系统的影响,故障系统的修复时间是任意分布的.运用泛函分析的方法,通过分析系统主算子的谱特征,给出了系统的可靠性分析的证明.     

On the mean residual life of a k-out-of-n:G system with a single cold standby component

The concept of mean residual life is one of the most important characteristics that has been widely used in dynamic reliability analysis. It is a useful tool for investigating ageing properties of technical systems. In this paper, we define and study three different mean residual life functions for k-out-of-n:G system with a single cold standby component. In particular, we obtain explicit expressions for the corresponding functions using distributions of order statistics. We also provide some stochastic ordering results associated with the lifetime of a system. We illustrate the results for various lifetime distributions.     

两比例失效率元件组成串联系统元件冗余与系统冗余的随机比较

针对两个比例失效率元件组成的串联系统,在热冗余的情形下,讨论了串联系统的元件冗余与系统冗余两种方案,并基于随机序的方法,对普通随机序、失效率序、反失效率序建立了元件冗余优于系统冗余的随机比较理论.     

Cold vs. hot standby mission operation cost minimization for 1-out-of-N systems

It is well recognized that using the hot standby redundancy provides fast restoration in the case of failures. However the redundant elements are exposed to working stresses before they are used, which reduces the overall system reliability. Moreover, the cost of maintaining the hot redundant elements in the operational state is usually much greater than the cost of keeping them in the cold standby mode. Therefore, there exists a tradeoff between the cost of losses associated with the restoration delays and the operation cost of standby elements. Such a trade-off can be obtained by designing both hot and cold redundancy types into the same system. Thus a new optimization problem arises for the standby system design. The problem, referred to in this work as optimal standby element distributing and sequencing problem (SE-DSP) is to distribute a fixed set of elements between cold and hot standby groups and select the element initiation sequence so as to minimize the expected mission operation cost of the system while providing a desired level of system reliability. This paper first formulates and solves the SE-DSP problem for 1-out-of-N: G heterogeneous non-repairable standby systems. A numerical method is proposed for evaluating the system reliability and expected mission cost simultaneously. This method is based on discrete approximation of time-to-failure distributions of the system elements. A genetic algorithm is used as an optimization tool for solving the formulated optimization problem. Examples are given to illustrate the considered problem and the proposed solution methodology.     

N-控制策略且温储备失效M/G/1可修排队的可靠性指标

本文研究N-门限值进入控制策略且温储备失效M/G/1可修排队系统, 其中系统在处于温储备失效的状态下最多容许N(1)个顾客进入系统。 运用全概率分解技术和拉普拉斯变换工具, 对服务台第一次失效前的寿命概率分布、不可用度、(0,t]时间内的平均失效次数以及处于温储备失效而等待修理的概率等可靠性指标进行了讨论, 并给出了其稳态结果表达式。 最后, 通过数值实例分析了服务台因温储备故障的稳态不可用度和稳态故障频度随一些参数的变化情况。     

冷贮备冗余系统可靠度预计的递归算法

基于贮备科系统的特点,运用折方法得出一种用计算机求冷贮备冗余系统可靠度的方法,并将该计算方法用于两个计算实例。