Sensitivity analysis of a three-unit series system under k-out-of-n redundancy

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the reliability measures, namely, availability, reliability, mean time to failure and expected profit. The authors also analyse the sensitivity of these reliability measures.

Design/methodology/approach

Depending upon the real industrial relevance, a generalized system which is easily repairable, extremely reliable and of high quality is expected by the rapid growth of the digital economy. Considering reliability, as one of the performance measure, the authors have designed a complex system which consists of three subsystems, namely, A, B and C in series configuration. The subsystem A consists of n numbers of units which are arranged in parallel configuration, subsystem B consists of two sub-subsystems X and Y align parallel to one another, where X is a type of 1-out-of-n:F. Failure and repair rates are assumed to be follow the general distribution.

Findings

The system is deeply studied by the usage of the supplementary variable technique, Laplace transformation and Markov’s law. Various conclusive results such as availability and reliability of the system, mean time to failure, cost and sensitivity analysis have been discussed further.

Originality/value

Through the systematic view of reliability measures of the proposed system, performance of the system can be enhanced under high profit.

Citation

Goyal, N., Ram, M., Amoli, S. and Suyal, A. (2017), "Sensitivity analysis of a three-unit series system under k-out-of-n redundancy", International Journal of Quality & Reliability Management, Vol. 34 No. 6, pp. 770-784. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJQRM-07-2016-0106