Int J Performability Eng ›› 2019, Vol. 15 ›› Issue (1): 167-178.doi: 10.23940/ijpe.19.01.p17.167178

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Reliability Evaluation of Uncertain Multi-State Systems based on Weighted Universal Generating Function

Wenjie Dong(), Sifeng Liu, Zhigeng Fang, and Yingsai Cao   

  1. College of Economics and Management,Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Jiangsu, 211106,China
  • Revised on ; Accepted on
  • Contact: Dong Wenjie E-mail:dongwenjie@nuaa.edu.cn
  • About author:Wenjie Dong received his B.S. degree in industrial engineering from Shandong Jianzhu University, Jinan, China, in 2014, and he is currently working toward a Ph.D. in the College of Economics and Management at Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Nanjing, China. His research interests are reliability engineering and uncertainties.|Sifeng Liu is a professor in the College of Economics and Management at Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Nanjing, China. He received his Ph.D. in grey systems theory at Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China. He is the director of the Grey System Research Institute at Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, the chairman of IEEE Grey System Society, and the vice chairman of IEEE SMC China (Beijing) Branch. His research interests include grey systems theory and complex equipment development and management. He is the editor-in-chief of two international journals: Grey Systems: Theory and Application and Journal of Grey Systems.|Zhigeng Fang is a professor in the College of Economics and Management at Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Nanjing, China. His research fields are grey systems theory and reliability management.|Yingsai Cao received his B.S. degree in management science and engineering from Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, China, in 2014, and he is currently working toward a Ph.D. in the College of Economics and Management at Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics. His research interests are reliability engineering and complex equipment development and management.

Abstract:

Universal generating function (UGF) is a basic and important technology in the reliability evaluation of multi-state systems (MSSs). It has been widely noticed by reliability scholars and engineers since its introduction. In the process of reliability evaluation of MSSs with UGF, universal generating operators play a great role in synthesizing the system output performance rate. For many uncertain MSSs in actual engineering, when the connection structure between components is unknown and/or the performance relationship is unclear, the definition of the weighted universal generating function is proposed. By designing reliability evaluation indices and constructing a weighted universal generating function of MSSs, reliability parameters of MSSs can be evaluated. A real case of steam turbine power generation system in a repairable naval equipment system is conducted to illustrate the applications.

Key words: multi-state system, universal generating function, weight determination, reliability evaluation, steam turbine power generation system