Common supply failures in linear multi-state sliding window systems

• Published in: Reliability engineering & system safety Vol. 82; no. 1; pp. 55 - 62
• Main Author: Levitin, Gregory
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier Ltd 01.10.2003
• Subjects: Common cause failure; Genetic algorithm; Multi-state element; Optimal distribution; Reliability importance; Sliding window system; Universal moment generating function; Sliding window system; Common cause failure; Multi-state element; Genetic algorithm; CSF, common supply failure; CSG, common supply group; Optimal distribution; Reliability importance; SWS, linear multi-state sliding window system; Universal moment generating function; u-function, universal moment generating function; ME, multi-state element
• ISSN: 0951-8320; 1879-0836
• DOI: 10.1016/S0951-8320(03)00121-2

This paper considers a linear multi-state sliding window system (SWS) that consists of n linearly ordered multi-state elements. Each element can have different states: from complete failure to perfect functioning. A performance rate is associated with each state. The system fails if the sum of the performance rates of any r consecutive elements is lower than demand w. Different groups of elements (common supply groups (CSGs)) share some common resources. Failures in the resource supply system (common supply failures (CSF)) result in the simultaneous outage of several elements belonging to corresponding groups. Different groups of elements are affected by different CSF. This paper presents an algorithm for evaluating the reliability of SWS that is the subject of CSF. It also introduces the CSG reliability importance measure and suggests an algorithm for its estimation. Further, it formulates a problem of optimal element distribution among CSGs and presents a method for solving it. An illustrative example shows the application of the suggested algorithms.