Reliability Theory and Models

Reliability Theory and Models: Stochastic Failure Models, Optimal Maintenance Policies, Life Testing, and Structures contains the proceedings of a Symposium on Stochastic Failure Models, Replacement and Maintenance Policies, and Accelerated Life Testing, held in Charlotte, North Carolina, on June 24-26, 1983. Contributors discuss the directions for research on stochastic failure models and maintenance and replacement policies, as well as statistical and computational aspects of reliability. This text is divided into five sections and is comprised of 17 chapters; the first of which introduces the reader to Markov and semi-Markov models of deterioration in light of the results on representation and characterization of Markov processes. The discussion then turns to the concept of minimal repair; situations in which the appropriate stochastic process is a damage or wear process; and optimum policies for several maintenance models based on the imperfect repair model of Brown and Proschan. The chapters that follow explore optimal replacement for self-repairing shock models; the implementation of an iterative scheme for certain Markovian wear/damage models; and a Markov decision model for determining the optimal inventories of repairable spare parts for redundant systems. This book also considers the reliability and maintenance of very large complex systems from the perspective of the U.S. Air Force. This reference material will be of interest to students and active researchers in the fields of mathematics and engineering.