Predicting the failure rate for components that go through a degradation state

摘要

This paper reviews some recent models uggested for handling the common situation that a component go through a state of deterioration before it fails. The most relevant models, together with an easy to use approximation, suggested in this paper, are applied to some failure data from the OREDA (Offshore Reliability Data) base. There is a focus on components that are tested periodically, and it is investigated how the length on the test interval affects the observed "failure rate" of the component.