Cost Analysis of a System Involving Common-Cause Failures and Preventive Maintenance

Abstract

Problem statement: Many authors have studied the cost analysis of a two-unit cold standby redundant system with two types of unit failure, but no attention was paid to the reliability of a system involving common-cause failures and preventive maintenance. Question was raised whether the preventive maintenance would be effective on the reliability and performance of the system. Determine the efficacy of preventive maintenance on the reliability and performance of the system. Approach: In this study, the Mean Time to System Failure (MTSF), steady state availability and the profit function of a two-unit cold standby repairable redundant system involving common-cause failures and preventive maintenance were discussed. We analyzed the system by using Kolmogorov's forward equations method. Some particular cases have also been discussed graphically. Results: The results indicated that the system with preventive maintenance is better than the system without preventive maintenance. Conclusion: These results indicated that the better maintenance of parts of the system originated better reliability and performance of the system.