On Reliability Properties of a Parallel System with States of
Reduced Efficiency
Ilkka Virtanen
Abstract
This paper deals with the operational behaviour and reliability of
a system which has several different levels of performance, i.e. the
system also possesses the property of operation with reduced
efficiency. Using the supplementary variable technique and
Laplace and discrete transforms, both the transient and steady state
behaviour of the system are derived. On the basis of this
behavioural information the reliability of the system is obtained.
The reliability analysis of the system is carried out within the
framework of generalized reliability concepts developed for
operationally multi-stage systems.
Key words: Systems with reduced efficiency, Generalized
reliability characteristics, Supplementary variables, Discrete
transforms.
(Studies in Honour of Olavi Bertel Hellman on the Occasion
of His 50th Birthday. Annales Universitatis Turkuensis,
Series A.1. 175, 5158, Turku 1978.)