Approximated optimal design for a bivariate step-stress accelerated life test with generalized exponential distribution under type-I progressive censoring

Abstract

PurposeIn this paper, the author proposed an optimization design for a step-stress accelerated life test (SSALT) with two stress variables for the generalized exponential (GE) distribution under progressive type-I censoring.Design/methodology/approachIn this paper, two stress variables were considered. Progressive censoring and accelerated life testing were used to reduce the time and cost of testing. It was assumed that the lifetimes of the test units followed a GE distribution. The effects of changing stress were considered as a cumulative exposure model. A log-linear relationship between the scale parameter of the GE distribution and the stress was proposed. The maximum likelihood estimators and approximate and bootstrap confidence intervals (CIs) for the model parameters were obtained. An optimum test plan was developed using minimization of the asymptotic variance (AV) of the percentile life under the usual operating condition.FindingsAccording to the simulation results, the bootstrap CIs of the model parameters gave more accurate results than approximate CIs through the length of CIs. The sensitivity analysis was performed to illustrate the effect of initial estimates on optimal values that has been studied. Simulation results also indicated that the optimal times were not too sensitive to the initial values of parameters; thus, the proposed design was robust.Originality/valueIn most studies, only one accelerating stress variable is used. Sometimes accelerating one stress variable does not yield enough failure data. Thus, two stress variables may be needed for additional acceleration. In this paper, two stress variables are considered. The inclusion of two stress variables in a test design will lead to a better understanding of the effect of two simultaneously operating stress variables. Also, the author assumes that the failure time of the test units follows a GE distribution. It is observed that the GE distribution can be used quite effectively to analyze lifetime data in place of gamma, Weibull and log-normal distributions. Also, most studies in this field have focused on the derivation of optimum test plans. In this paper, the author examined the estimation of model parameters and the optimization of the test design. In this paper, the asymptotic and bootstrap CIs for the model parameters are calculated. In addition, a sensitivity analysis is performed to examine the effect of the changes in the pre-estimated parameters on the optimal hold times. For determining the optimal test plan, due to nonlinearity and complexity of the objective function, the particle swarm optimization (PSO) algorithm is developed to calculate the optimal hold times. In this method, the research speed is very fast and optimization ability is more.