Intuitionistic fuzzy approach to reliability assessment of multi-state systems

Abstract

One of the major problems that one encounters within an engineering system is the assessment of its quality, or in other words, reliability. However, conventional reliability tends to ignore the fuzziness in the system, i.e., the lack of precision, vagueness, inaccuracy, or inadequacy in the information obtained. As a result, the integration of fuzzy sets into reliability theory has proven to be incredibly vital. Similarly, the universal generating function (UGF) technique has also been an asset in reliability assessment ever since its inception due to its simplicity. Here, a novel technique involving the intuitionistic fuzzy sets (IFS), specifically using the triangular intuitionistic fuzzy numbers (TIFN) and the UGF method, has been created for the reliability assessment of a fuzzy multi-state system (FMSS). This method is then applied to a system of wireless communication and its intuitionistic fuzzy reliability and availability are evaluated where each performance state and its probability are characterized by a TIFN. The obtained results are also represented graphically for better insights. This work is helpful in getting a clear picture of FMSS and thus, making them more reliable.