System reliability evaluation using probability distributions

Abstract

A relatively standard procedure for evaluating the reliability of a system is to decompose it into its constituent components, estimate the reliability of each of these components and finally combine the component reliabilities using one or more numerical techniques to estimate the reliability of the complete system. The level to which the decomposition is taken must be such that the reliabilities of the resulting components are known within reasonable and acceptable precision. It may therefore not be necessary to decompose the system into individual real components but into a set of devices or subsystems, the reliabilities of which are known from experience.