On a redundant repairable system with switching failure: Bayesian approach

Abstract

System characteristics of a redundant repairable system are studied from a Bayesian viewpoint with different types of priors assumed for the unknown parameters. The system consists of two primary units, one standby unit, and one repair facility which is activated when switching to standby fails. Times to failure and times to repair of the operating units are assumed to follow exponential distributions. When time to failure and time to repair have uncertain parameters, a Bayesian approach is adopted to evaluate system characteristics. Monte Carlo simulation is used to derive the posterior distribution for the mean time to system failure and steady-state availability. Some numerical experiments are performed to illustrate the results derived in this paper.

Keywords:

• Availability
• Bayesian estimation
• HPD intervals
• Mean time to system failure
• Switching failure

Acknowledgements

The authors are grateful to the Associate Editor, Professor Cathal Walsh and the referee, whose constructive comments have led to a substantial improvement in the presentation of the paper. The authors also thank to Dr. S. C. Ho who polishes the revision version and provides his valuable discussions and suggestions. The work was partially supported by NSC of Taiwan: grant no. 95-2118-M-005-003.