Reliability Analysis of Consecutive <i>k</I>-out-of-<i>n< Systems With Non-Identical Components Lifetimes

Abstract

In recent years, the study of reliability properties of consecutive k-out-of-n systems has attracted a great deal of attention from both theoretical and practical perspectives. In this paper we consider linear and circular consecutive k-out-of-n systems. It is assumed that lifetimes of components of the systems are independent but their probability distributions are non-identical. We study the reliability properties of the residual lifetimes of such systems under the condition that at least (n - r + 1), r <= n, components of the system are operating. We also investigate the probability that a specific number of components of the above-mentioned system operate at time t, t > 0, under the condition that the system is alive at time t. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.