Optimal allocation of units in sequential probability series systems

Qingan Qiu, Lirong Cui, Hongda Gao and He Yi

Reliability Engineering and System Safety, 2018, vol. 169, issue C, 351-363

Abstract: A concept of Sequential Probability Series System (SPSS) is developed in this paper, which widely exists in many practical sectors such as power plants, inventory management and security management. In SPSS the failure states of each unit are divided into two classes according to their consequences: dangerous failure and safe failure, where the former results in system failure while the latter has no impact on the system. Suppose that when a failure unit appears in SPSS, the system fails with probability p while the other units in SPSS can continue working with probability 1−p. This paper treats the problem of achieving optimal allocation of units in SPSSs that maximizes expected total working time of all units. Three optimal allocation models are formulated. We derive the analytical expressions for the optimal allocation solutions under certain assumptions. A genetic algorithm and a Monte Carlo method are provided to solve the allocation problems whose analytical solutions are difficult to obtain. An application can be found in Remote Power Feeding System (RPFS). Numerical examples for a RPFS are presented to demonstrate the application of the developed approach in each model.

Keywords: Sequential probability series systems; Optimal allocation; Genetic algorithm; Monte Carlo; Remote Power Feeding System (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (19)

Downloads: (external link)
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S095183201731150X
Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:reensy:v:169:y:2018:i:c:p:351-363

DOI: 10.1016/j.ress.2017.09.011

Access Statistics for this article

Reliability Engineering and System Safety is currently edited by Carlos Guedes Soares

More articles in Reliability Engineering and System Safety from Elsevier
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Catherine Liu ().