Monte Carlo simulation for reliability evaluation of complex systems

Abstract

A complex system of s-dependent and s-independent units is considered in this paper for system reliability evaluation. It is also assumed that failure of any unit in the dependent set increases the failure probabilities of the remainder in the set. A general ease of partial redundant subsystems is considered. A computational algorithm to compute effective failure rates of the remaining components which fail sequentially, is explained for programme implementation. Fault-tree logic for the system failure is used as one of the subprogrammes. The advantage of this approach is that it can be used for a large complex system without any difficulty, besides many advantages normally associated with the fault-tree technique.