This paper develops analytical and numerical techniques to determine two important component characteristic, the failure intensity and the availability, when repairs reduce the virtual age of a unit. Finite repair times are taken into account. An exact Volterra integral equation and an approximate solution are provided for the intensity when component ages during operation and during repairs. A numerical technique is developed and illustrated for the alternative case, i.e. when ageing stops during repairs. The asymptotic behaviour is described in terms of two measures of the age-dependent expected time to the next failure.
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