Reliability analysis of circular multi-state sliding window system with sequential demands

摘要

This paper proposes a new model of circular multi-state sliding window system with sequential demands. In this model the system consists of n mutually independent multi-state elements which are arranged along a circular path and fails if any r consecutive multi-state elements within the circle cannot meet the pre-determined sequential demands W. To evaluate the reliability of the proposed system, an algorithm based on an extended universal moment generating function is suggested and a method of reducing computational complexity is also provided. The element sequence strongly affects the reliability of the proposed circular multi-state sliding window system, therefore, the optimal element sequencing problem is formulated for the system and solved by using a genetic algorithm. Both analytical and numerical examples of evaluating system reliability are presented to illustrate the proposed model and the suggested algorithm.