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Engineering Decisions for Long-Term Performance of Systems

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Reliability and Life-Cycle Analysis of Deteriorating Systems

Part of the book series: Springer Series in Reliability Engineering ((RELIABILITY))

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Abstract

The objective of engineering practice is to provide solutions to human needs by developing and deploying technologies that make life better.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    The selection should be made according to the values and preferences of the decision maker.

  2. 2.

    Hard systems refer to structured physical systems whose performance can be described by well established mechanical laws [14, 15].

  3. 3.

    Uncertainty is “a state of not knowing whether a proposition is true or false” [18]. Uncertainty may result from a lack of knowledge or from randomness—i.e., lack of a pattern in the system behavior [1].

  4. 4.

    Note that satisfactory decisions are somehow sub-optimal.

  5. 5.

    Note that in colloquial usage, risk generally refers only to the negative values of the return function; positive values are frequently described as an opportunity . Despite these interpretations, in mathematical terms, and for completeness, it is most convenient to include both positive and negative returns as part of any risk analysis.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Universidad de Los Andes, Bogotá, Colombia

    Mauricio Sánchez-Silva

  2. Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, USA

    Georgia-Ann Klutke

Authors
  1. Mauricio Sánchez-Silva
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  2. Georgia-Ann Klutke
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Correspondence to Mauricio Sánchez-Silva .

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Sánchez-Silva, M., Klutke, GA. (2016). Engineering Decisions for Long-Term Performance of Systems. In: Reliability and Life-Cycle Analysis of Deteriorating Systems. Springer Series in Reliability Engineering. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-20946-3_1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-20946-3_1

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  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-20945-6

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-20946-3

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