THE RELIABILITY OF A COMPLEX SYSTEM WITH SPARES, REPAIR, AND CANNIBALIZATION
Published Date: June 1, 1974
In this paper, the reliability of a complex system is investigated. Special cases of the system include the 'spare parts' or 'standby redundancy' problem and the 'repair' problem. Also included in the system is the opportunity for 'cannibalization'. A theorem is given indicating the proper use of this activity. The spare parts problem and the repair problem are analyzed separately. Methods of combining the two analyses are then given in order to obtain bounds and approximations to total system reliability.
