Cost Benefit Analysis of Series Systems with Mixed Standby Components and <i>k</i>-stage Erlang Repair Time

Abstract

In this paper, we compare the availability characteristics between three different series system configurations with mixed (cold and warm) standby components and k-stage Erlang repair times. Three configurations are studied under the assumption that the time-to-failure for each of the operative and warm standby components are assumed to be exponentially distributed with parameters λ andα , respectively. We present a recursive method, using the supplementary variable technique; we develop the explicit expressions for the steady-state availability. Under the cost/benefit criterion, comparisons are made based on assumed numerical values given to the distribution parameters, and to the cost of the operative and standby units.