Basic Elements of System Reliability

Abstract

This chapter presents the basic principles and functional relationships used for reliability assessment of systems with simple interconnections. Systems with simple interconnections are those that can be reduced to a single equivalent element or block through a sequence, however complex, of series and parallel reductions. The analysis of systems with complex interconnections is treated in Chapter 3. Although most multichannel systems have complex interconnections, many fundamental principles of redundant system reliability can be developed and understood using the principles discussed in the present chapter. The objective of this chapter is to first determine the overall reliability of a system that is composed of multiple subsystem elements or components, each with known reliability, and then to determine the reliability of the system that comprises these components.