Reliability analysis of k-out-of-n system with load-sharing and failure propagation effect

In complex systems, functional dependency and physical dependency may have a coupling effect. In this paper, the reliability of a k-out-of-n system is analyzed considering load-sharing effect and failure mechanism (FM) propagation. Three types of FMs are considered and an accumulative damage model is proposed to illustrate the system behavior of the k-out-of-n system and the coupling effect between load-sharing effect and FM propagation effect. A combinational algorithm based on Binary decision diagram (BDD) and Monte-Carlo simulation is presented to evaluate the complex system behavior and reliability of the k-out-of-n system. A current stabilizing system that consists of a 3-out-of-6 subsystem with FM propagation effect is presented as a case to illustrate the complex behavior and to verify the applicability of the proposed method. Due to the coupling effect change, the main mechanism and failure mode will be changed, and the system lifetime is shortened. Reasons are analyzed and results show that different sensitivity factors of three different FMs lead to the change of the development rate, thus changing the failure scenario. Neglecting the coupling effect may lead to an incomplete and ineffective measuring and monitoring plan. Design strategies must be adopted to make the FM propagation insensitive to load-sharing effect.