Reliability analysis of a warm standby repairable system with priority in use

In this paper, a warm standby repairable system consisting of two dissimilar units and one repairman is studied. In this system, it is assumed that the working time distributions and the repair time distributions of the two units are both exponential, and unit 1 is given priority in use. After repair, both unit 1 and unit 2 are “as good as new”. Moreover, the transfer switch in the system is unreliable, and the function of the switch is: “as long as the switch fails, the whole system fails immediately”. Under these assumptions, using Markov process theory and the Laplace transform, some important reliability indexes and some steady state system indexes are derived. Finally, a numerical example is given to illustrate the theoretical results of the model.     

Reliability analysis of 1-for-2 shared protection systems with general repair-time distributions

In this paper, we investigate the reliability of a type of 1-for-2 shared protection systems. The 1-for-2 shared protection system is the most basic fault-tolerant configuration with shared backup units. We assume that there are two working units each serving a single user and one shared protection (spare) unit in the system. We also assume that the times to failure and to repair are subject to exponential and general distributions respectively. Under these assumptions, we derive the Laplace transform of the survival function (the cdf that the system will survive beyond a given time) for each user as well as the user-perceived Mean Time to First Failure (MTTFF) by combining the state transition analysis and the supplementary variable method. We also show the effect of the repair-time distribution, the failure rates and the repair rates of the units through the case study of small-sized two enterprises that share one spare device for backup purpose. The analysis reveals what is important and what should be done in order to improve the user-perceived reliability of shared protection systems.     

Bilevel control of degraded machining system with warm standbys, setup and vacation

In this paper, we study (N, L) switch-over policy for machine repair model with warm standbys and two repairmen. The repairman (R₁) turns on for repair only when N-failed units are accumulated and starts repair after a set up time which is assumed to be exponentially distributed. As soon as the system becomes empty, the repairman (R₁) leaves for a vacation and returns back when he finds the number of failed units in the system greater than or equal to a threshold value N. Second repairman (R₂) turns on when there are L(>N) failed units in the system and goes for a vacation if there are less than L failed units. The life time and repair time of failed units are assumed to be exponentially distributed. The steady state queue size distribution is obtained by using recursive method. Expressions for the average number of failed units in the queue and the average waiting time are established.     

Cost-benefit analysis of one-server n-unit adaptive system with slow switch

This paper considers a shared parallel system consisting of n-units supported by single service facility to carry out both installation and repair of a unit. Initially, all the n units share the total load equally and when one or more units fail, they go for repair while the other surviving units share the entire load equally till the failed units are ready for operation after installation. The installation time (switchover time) of a repaired unit is assumed to be non-negligible and random. The system will be down when all the units are non-operative , Assuming that the failure rates are different when the units function under varying loads, the system characteristics, namely, (1) the expected up-time of the system during (0, t], (2) the expected repair time of the units which failed due to varying failure rates during (0, t] and (3) the expected time spent by the units in the installation state during the period (0, t], are obtained by identifying the system at suitable regeneration epochs. The repair time and the switchover time of the units are arbitrarily distributed. The failure rate of unit is assumed to be constant. It depends on the number of surviving units at any instant. The cost-benefit analysis is also carried out using these system characteristics     

General analysis of l-out-of-2: f system exposed to cumulative damage processes

This paper presents models in l-out-of-2:F system. In Model 1, one unit is exposed to cumulative damage process and the other unit lias a constant failure rate. In Model 2, the two units are exposed to cumulative damage processes. They have exponential thresholds and exponential inter-damage times. Introducing a repair facility which repairs ail the damages one by one after the system-failure, this paper treats the joint Laplace transforms of the up and the down times. Marginal down time distributions .are calculated when there exists a repair facility for every damage.     

Reliability Analysis of a One-Unit System with Unrepairable Spare Units and its Optimization Applications

It is assumed that a unit is either in operation or is in repair. When the main unit is under repair, spare units which cannot be repaired are used. In this system the following quantities are of interest: (i) The time distribution and the mean time to first-system failure, given that the n spare units are provided at time 0. (ii) The probability that the number of the failed spare units are equal to exactly n during the interval (0, t], and its expected number during the interval (0, t]. These quantities are derived by solving the renewal-type equations.Two optimization problems are discussed using the results obtained, viz.: (i) The expected cost of two systems, one with both a main unit and spare units and the other with only spare units is considered. (ii) A preventive maintenance policy of the main unit is considered in order to minimize the expected cost rate. Some policies of the two problems are discussed under suitable conditions. Numerical examples are also presented.     

A standby system with two types of repair persons

A continuously monitored one‐unit system, backed by an identical standby unit, is perfectly repaired by an in‐house repair person, if achievable within a random or deterministic patience time (DPT), or else by a visiting expert, who repairs one or all failed units before leaving. We study four models in terms of the limiting availability and limiting profit per unit time, using semi‐Markov processes, when all distributions are exponential. We show that a DPT is preferable to a random patience time, and we characterize conditions under which the expert should repair multiple failed units (rather than only one failed unit) during each visit. We also extend the method when life‐ and repair times are non‐exponential. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

一类具有可修复储备部件的人-机系统解的半离散化

针对一个具有两个运行部件和一个储备部件,考虑系统通常故障的发生,且系统故障修复时间服从一般分布的人-机系统模型,对系统模型中修复率用初等阶梯函数进行逼近,给出了系统的半离散化模型,为进一步数值计算打下理论基础.     

Reliability analysis of a three unit warm standby redundant system with repair

Two-unit warm standby redundant systems have been investigated extensively in the past. The most general model is the one in which both the lifetime and repair time distributions of the units are arbitrary. However the study of standby systems with more than two units, though very important, has received much less attention, possibly because of the built-in difficulties in analyzing them. Such systems have been studied only when either the lifetime or the repair time is exponentially distributed. When both these distributions are general, the problem appears to be intractable even in the case of cold standby systems. The present contribution is an improvement in the state of art in the sense that a three unit warm standby system is shown to be capable of comprehensive analysis. In particular we show that there are imbedded renewal points that render the analysis possible. Using these imbedded renewal points we obtain the reliability and availability functions. Emeritus Deceased 23rd December 2003.     

同时考虑故障相关和变故障率的可修系统可靠性计算

基于Copula相关性理论,考虑可修系统零部件工作寿命、故障部件修复时间之间的正相关性,且将零件工作寿命、修复时间放宽到一般连续分布,而不局限于指数分布.提出微时间差t→t+△t内系统一步状态转移矩阵概念,进而演算出状态转移密度矩阵,经系统状态方程,分别给出了任意时刻t单部件、串联型、二不同单元和一修理工组成的并联可修系统的可用度和稳态可用度计算模型.通过算例,说明该理论方法的可行性.     

具有单重休假和修复不如新的两部件并联系统

为了解决由"修复非新"部件组成的具有休假的可修型系统,运用几何过程理论、补充变量法和拉普拉斯变换工具,研究了由两个不同型部件和一个修理工组成的可修型并联系统.假设两个部件的工作寿命和修理时间均服从不同的指数分布,修理工可休假,对部件1的修理是几何修理而对部件2的修理则是修复如新,得到了系统的可用度、可靠度和系统首次故障前平均时间等可靠性指标.成果具有一定的理论和实际意义.     

Probabilistic analysis of a system with dependent units having a single repair facility subject to preventive maintenance

The paper deals with the availability and the reliability analysis of a system with dependent units having a single repair facility subject to preventive maintenance. The system initially consists of n-identical units (connected in parallel) each with failure rate λ_n. The failure rate of a unit at any given instant of time depends upon the number of units operating at that instant. The time to repair of a failed unit and the time for maintenance of the repair- facility are arbitrarily distributed whereas the time to failure of a unit is exponentially distributed. The results obtained have been compared with those obtained when the repair facility is not subject to preventive maintenance.     

有优先维修权和优先使用权的冷储备系统的几何过程模型

本文研究了一个由两个部件和一个维修工组成的可修型冷储备系统.假设两个部件的工作时间和维修时间都服从指数分布,对部件2的维修是修旧如新而对部件1则是几何维修,且对部件1给予优先使用和优先维修的权利,在这些假定下,我们运用几何过程理论和补充变量方法,得到了一些重要的可靠性指标如系统可靠度、可用度、系统首次故障前平均工作时间和系统瞬时故障率等.最后还给出了维修工空闲的概率.     

两部件冷备系统的可靠性分析及其最优更换策略

本文研究了两个不同部件、一个修理工组成的冷贮备可修系统,假定它们的寿命分布和维修分布均匀为指数分布,但故障后均不能修复如新时,我们利用几何过程和补充变量法求得了一些可靠性指标,并以故障次数为策略,以长期运行单位时间内的期望效益为目标函数,确定了最优的故障次数,便得目标函数达到最大值,从而保证了系统的可用度。     

Reliability analysis of a stand-by system with repair and intermediate stocks for failed and repaired units

In this paper we give a reliability analysis of a stand-by system with repair, consisting of N working and N^R stand-by units. Failed and repaired units are collected in intermediate stocks. Concerning the delivery from the intermediate stocks we consider two rules: (i) the collected units are delivered in fixed time intervals; (ii) the units will be delivered when there are k units accumulated. The system fails if a unit that has failed cannot be replaced by a stand-by unit. Using a point process approach we derive approximations for the stationary availability and mean time between failures of the system. Numerical results show that the proposed approximations, which can be handled easily, work well.     

Algorithm for a general discrete k-out-of-n: G system subject to several types of failure with an indefinite number of repairpersons

A discrete k-out-of-n: G system with multi-state components is modelled by means of block-structured Markov chains. An indefinite number of repairpersons are assumed and PH distributions for the lifetime of the units and for the repair time are considered. The units can undergo two types of failures, repairable or non-repairable. The repairability of the failure can depend on the time elapsed up to failure. The system is modelled and the stationary distribution is built by using matrix analytic methods. Several performance measures of interest, such as the conditional probability of failure for the units and for the system, are built into the transient and stationary regimes. Rewards are included in the model. All results are shown in a matrix algorithmic form and are implemented computationally with Matlab. A numerical example of an optimization problem shows the versatility of the model.     

Stochastic analysis of a n-unit repairable system with slow switch

This paper deals with the costn–benefit analysis of a cold standby system composed of n identical repairable units, subject to slow switch. Two models of system functioning are studied in this paper. In model 1, the repair time of a unit is assumed to follow exponential distribution and the other time distributions as arbitrary, while in model 2, the repair time of a unit is assumed to be arbitrarily distributed and the other time distributions follow exponential law. For both the models, the system characteristics, namely

(i) the expected upn–time of the system during the period (O,t]

(ii) the expected busyn–period of the repair facility during the period (0,t] and

(iii) the expected time the units spend in the switchover/installation state during the period (O,t]

are studied by identifying the system a t suitable regeneration epochs. The cost-benefit analysis is carried out using these characteristics     

Probabilistic analysis of a series–parallel repairable system with three units and vacation

This paper studies the steady-state availability and the mean up-time of a series–parallel repairable system consisting of one master control unit, two slave units and a single repairman who operates single vacation. Under the assumption that each unit has a constant failure rate and arbitrary repair time distribution, by using the supplementary variable method and the vector Markov process theory, we obtain the explicit expressions for the steady-state probabilities of the system, the steady-state availability and the mean up-time. A special case without vacation is given. Numerical results are provided to investigate the effects of various system parameters on the steady-state availability and the mean up-time.     

基于修理设备的冷贮备可修系统的维修策略

本文研究了两同型部件,一个修理设备组成的冷贮备可修系统.在故障部件不能"修复如新"的条件下,分别以系统中部件1故障次数N,工作时间T和(N,T)为维修策略,利用更新过程和几何过程,求出修理设备经长期运行单位时间内平均停工时间表达式.并在部件寿命的分布函数和修理时间的分布函数已知的情况下,以部件1故障次数N为策略证明存在最优N*使修理设备经长期运行单位时间内平均停工时间最长.最后,通过数值例子验证最优策略的存在性.     

Performance modeling of state dependent system with mixed standbys and two modes of failure

The present investigation deals with a multicomponent repairable system with state dependent rates. For smooth functioning of the system, mixed standbys (warm and cold) are provided so that the failed units are immediately replaced by standbys if available. To prevent congestion in the system due to failure of units, permanent along with additional repairmen are provided to restore the failed units. It is assumed that the units may fail in two modes. The units have exponential life time and repair time distributions. The failed unit may balk in case of heavy load of failed units. The failed units may also wait in the queue and renege on finding the repairmen busy according to a pre-specified rule. The Chapman–Kolmogorov equations, governing the model in the form of matrix are constructed using transition flow rates of different states. The steady state solution of queue size distribution is derived using product formula. A cost function is suggested to determine the optimal number of warm and cold standbys units required for the desired level of quality of service. The numerical illustrations are carried out to explore the effect of different parameters on performance measures.