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System Structures
7
DK598X_book.fm Page 8 Monday, January 24, 2005 11:11 PM
8 Nachlas
1 if component i is functioning
xi
0 if component i is failed
so the set of n components that comprise a device is repre-
sented by the component status vector:
{
x = x1 , x2 ,........, xn }
Next, we represent the dependence of the device status
on the component status as the function
φ = φ( x) (2.1)
and the specific form for the function is determined by the
way in which the components interact to determine system
function. In the discussions that follow, φ(x) is referred to as
a “system structure function” or as a “system status function”
or simply as a “structure.” In all cases, the intent is to reflect
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System Structures 9
{1, 1, 0} {1, 0, 0}
{0, 1, 1} {0, 0, 1}
{0, 1, 0} {0, 0, 0}
Each component status vector yields a corresponding
value for the system status function, φ.
From a purely mathematical point of view, there is no
reason to limit the definition of the system status function,
so forms that have no practical interpretation can be con-
structed. In order to avoid any mathematically correct but
practically meaningless forms for the system status function,
we limit our attention to coherent systems.
Defn. 2.2: A coherent system is one for which the system
structure function is nondecreasing in each of its argu-
ments.
This means that for each element of the component sta-
tus vector, xi, there exists a realization of the vector for which
φ( x1 , ...., xi−1 , 0, xi+1 , ....., xn ) < φ( x1 , ...., xi−1 , 1, xi+1 , ....., xn ) (2.2)
Throughout our study of reliability, we will limit our attention
to algebraic forms that comply with this restriction.
Generally, we expect that the physical relationships
among the components determine the algebraic form of the
system status function, φ.
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1 2 3
System Structures 11
φ( x) = min xi
i
{ } (2.3)
φ( x) = ∏x
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i (2.4)
i =1
x1 = x2=1, x3 = 0 and φ( x) = 0
x1 = 1, x2 = x3 = 0 and φ( x) = 0
x1 = x2 = x3 = 1 and φ( x) = 1
Only the functioning of all components yields system
function.
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2
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φ( x) = max xi
i
{ } (2.5)
System Structures 13
φ( x) = x
i=1
i (2.6)
n n
x = 1 − ∏ (1 − x )
i=1
i
i=1
i (2.7)
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x1 = x2 = 1, x3 = 0, and φ( x) = 1
x1 = 1, x2 = x3 = 0, and φ( x) = 1
x1 = x2 = x3 = 0, and φ( x) = 0
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n
1
φ( x) =
if ∑x ≥ k
i =1
i
(2.8)
0 otherwise
x1 = x2 = x3 = 1, x4 = 0, and φ( x) = 1
x1 = x2 = 1, x3 = x4 = 0, and φ( x) = 0
x1 = x2 = x3 = 0, x4 = 1, and φ( x) = 0
Note that a series system may be considered as an n-out-
of-n system and a parallel system may be viewed as a 1-out-
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System Structures 15
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{1, 1, 0, 0, 0} 0 {0, 1, 0, 0, 0} 0
{1, 0, 1, 1, 1} 1 {0, 0, 1, 1, 1} 0
{1, 0, 1, 1, 0} 1 {0, 0, 1, 1, 0} 0
{1, 0, 1, 0, 1} 1 {0, 0, 1, 0, 1} 0
{1, 0, 1, 0, 0} 0 {0, 0, 1, 0, 0} 0
{1, 0, 0, 1, 1} 1 {0, 0, 0, 1, 1} 0
{1, 0, 0, 1, 0} 1 {0, 0, 0, 1, 0} 0
{1, 0, 0, 0, 1} 0 {0, 0, 0, 0, 1} 0
{1, 0, 0, 0, 0} 0 {0, 0, 0, 0, 0} 0
System Structures 17
{1, 0, 0, 1, 0} P1 = {1, 4}
{0, 1, 0, 0, 1} P2 = {2, 5}
{1, 0, 1, 0, 1} P3 = {1, 3, 5}
{0, 1, 1, 1, 0} P4 = {2, 3, 4}
Next, consider the elements of a minimum path and
define a status function for each minimum path. That is,
represent the functional status of each path using the func-
tions ρ(x). Since all of the components in a minimum path
must function in order for the path to represent proper func-
tion, the components in a minimum path may be viewed as
a series system. Hence, in general,
ρ j ( x) = ∏x
i∈Pj
i (2.9)
ρ1 ( x) = ∏x = x x
i∈P1
i 1 4
ρ2 ( x) = ∏x = x x
i∈P2
i 2 5
ρ3 ( x) = ∏x = x x x
i∈P3
i 1 3 5
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ρ4 ( x) = ∏x = x x x
i∈P4
i 2 3 4
φ( x) = ρ ( x) = ∏ x
j i (2.10)
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j j i∈Pj
System Structures 19
1 4
2 5
1 3 5
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κ k ( x) = x
i∈Ck
i (2.11)
κ 1 ( x) = x = 1 − (1 − x )(1 − x )
i∈C1
i 1 2
κ 2 ( x) = x = 1 − (1 − x )(1 − x )
i∈C2
i 4 5
κ 3 ( x) = x = 1 − (1 − x )(1 − x )(1 − x )
i∈C3
i 1 3 5
κ 4 ( x) = x = 1 − (1 − x )(1 − x )(1 − x )
i∈C4
i 2 3 4
System Structures 21
1 2
1 4
3 3
2 5
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5 4
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System Structures 23
references for this work are the papers by Natvig [12] and by
Barlow and Wu [13]. In each case, the key to the construction
is the algebraic representation of the effect of component state
on system state.
Both Natvig and Barlow and Wu start by defining the
state space for the components as {0, 1, … , m} where xi = j
represents the condition that component i is in state j, the
state 0 corresponds to component failure, and the state m
corresponds to perfect functioning. The interpretation of the
intermediate states depends upon the physical characteristics
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φ( x) = min xi
i
{ } (2.13)
φ( x) = max xi
i
{ } (2.14)
24 Nachlas
j
j
i ∈P
{ }
k {
φ( x) = max min xi = min max xi
i∈Ck
{ } } (2.15)
2.5 EXERCISES
1. Construct the minimum-path and minimum-cut
equivalent structures for a 2-out-of-3 system.
2. Construct the minimum-path and minimum-cut
equivalent structures for a three-component series
system.
3. Construct the minimum-path and minimum-cut
equivalent structures for a three-component parallel
system.
4. Identify the primary modules of an automobile.
5. Construct the minimum-path and minimum-cut
equivalent structures for the following system:
1 2 3
4 5
6 7
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System Structures 25
5 7
2
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3 4 6
9
1 3 5
4
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1 3
1 3
2 4 2 4
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