Reliability of a system subject to a random shock process

Abstract

In this article, a stochastic failure model for a system operated under a randomly variable environment will be studied. The failure process of the system is assumed to depend not only on the baseline failure rate function of the system itself but also on the environmental shock process. The lifetime distribution of the system and its failure rate function will be derived. The effect of environmental factors on the failure process of the system will also be investigated. Lifetimes of systems operated under different environmental conditions are stochastically compared. © 2010 Taylor & Francis Group.