Parameter Estimation Based on Censored Data under Partially Accelerated Life Testing for Hybrid Systems due to Unknown Failure Causes

Abstract

In general, simple subsystems like series or parallel are integrated to produce a complex hybrid system. The reliability of a system is determined by the reliability of its constituent components. It is often extremely difficult or impossible to get specific information about the component that caused the system to fail. Unknown failure causes are instances in which the actual cause of system failure is unknown. On the other side, thanks to current advanced technology based on computers, automation, and simulation, products have become incredibly dependable and trustworthy, and as a result, obtaining failure data for testing such exceptionally reliable items have become a very costly and time-consuming procedure. Therefore, because of its capacity to produce rapid and adequate failure data in a short period of time, accelerated life testing (ALT) is the most utilized approach in the field of product reliability and life testing. Based on progressively hybrid censored (PrHC) data from a three-component parallel series hybrid system that failed to owe to unknown causes, this paper investigates a challenging problem of parameter estimation and reliability assessment under a step stress partially accelerated life-test (SSPALT). Failures of components are considered to follow a power linear hazard rate (PLHR), which can be used when the failure rate displays linear, decreasing, increasing or bathtub failure patterns. The Tempered random variable (TRV) model is considered to reflect the effect of the high stress level used to induce early failure data. The maximum likelihood estimation (MLE) approach is used to estimate the parameters of the PLHR distribution and the acceleration factor. A variance covariance matrix (VCM) is then obtained to construct the approximate confidence intervals (ACIs). In addition, studentized bootstrap confidence intervals (ST-B CIs) are also constructed and compared with ACIs in terms of their respective interval lengths (ILs). Moreover, a simulation study is conducted to demonstrate the performance of the estimation procedures and the methodology discussed in this paper. Finally, real failure data from the air conditioning systems of an airplane is used to illustrate further the performance of the suggested estimation technique.