COMPONENT LIFE

19

useful life, it is nor true for other mortality distributions and, therefore,the operationofdivisionperformedinobtainingEq.(3.9)isnecessaryingeneral.

EXAMPLE 3-1 (a) If a device has a failure rate of 0.5 X l$-s failures/h :
5 x 104 failures/h : o.Svo/1000 h, what is its reliability for an operatingperiod
of 100 h? If there are 10,000 items in the test, how many fairuresare expectedin

r00h?

*
:
R0)
- R(100) s-0.ixto-r)<r0r e-0.000n
ry
R(100)
I - 0.0005 = 0.9995 (see Prob. 3-l)

& : //oR(r) = 10,000X 0.9995: 9995

Nr : No- i/. : 5 failuresexpected
,t

(r) From Eq. (3-3a), MTtf and MTBF are equalto eachother and to
l/x- For the device above, MTBF is 200,000 h. what is the reliability for an
operaling time equal to the lvlTBF?
For operating.time, t : MTBF
R(t) : 7-trt - e-t = 0'3679
(c) If the useful life is 100,000 h, what is the reliability for operating over
its usefullife?
R(l) - s-o'rxr0-rXt0'= e-o.i = 0.6065
(d) What is the probability for its surviving the first 100 h? If the device
has survived for 99,900 h, what is the probability for i* surviving the next 100 h?
In both cases,R(t)
- 0.9995,which is the reliabilityfor any 100-hoperating period during useful life.
coul'teNr: For an operating time equal to the MTBF there is only about a 37
percentprobability of failurelessoperation. For one-tenthof the MTBF, the reliability is approximately 90 percenr, while it is about 95 percent for MTBF/20
and 99 percentfor MTBF,U100.
llll
within useful life, the reliability of a device is the samefor operating periods of equal length. In effect, the device is always as good
new, iin""
"j
the failure rate is constant. wearout has not yet had an opportunity
to cause
any degradationwhich makesthe devicemore susceptibleto iailure. The probability that the devicewill have a random failure remainsthe samefor periods
of equal lengththroughoutthe entire usefullife. During usefullife, the failure
rate is not aftectedby time or aging. An automobileor similar device with
exponntialreliability (usefullife), afrer 6 months or a year, is, therefore,.'as
good as new" (which, incidentally, need not be very good nor very reliable).
There is no reason,however, why the MTBF (or MTTF) should change after
someuse in the useful life range.
The MTBF (obtained in useful life) is often much larger than the mean
wearout life 11. If the failure rate in useful life is very small, the MTBF can
reach several thousand or even millions of hours. However, if a device has

SERIES AND PARATLEL SYSTEMS

FIGURE+2
schematic
svstemwith unirsin series. -1:n1

4 .2 S ER IES

r:I

3I

F_:l
F---t-J-1iJ-

SY S TE MS

Assumingn componentsin- Fls. 4-2 areindependentand the systemwill survive

for operatingtime r [wirh R(0) : l] if, andtnly if,
eachon" of th" componenrs
survivesto time l, then the systemreliability is

FrornEq.(2-12)

Rr(r):.*p[-Ii^,fOo,f
R-('): expf-,i
Il^,od,]: exp
{-/Jf I r,1,11ar}
- @-ta)
For usefullife with all failurerates(^,s)constanl

'

R",G) :expi- ( i^,) ,]

i =1

G- tb)

Thus the eflectivefailure rate of a systemformed

from nonredundantcomponentsis equalto the sum of the failure ratesof the individual
components. The
componentsneednot be identical.
The mortality of a seriessystemis

m""(t)': (^,,0).*p
{- f:Li,r,(,)]d"}
-i,

G-2)

The MTTF of a seriessystemis

(*o
(4-3)
',": Io- {- I:f,,2,^,r"1]a'})a,

and is dependenton the failureratesof theindividual

components.

EXAMPLE 4-1 A system consistsof four independent

componentsin series,
eachhavinga reliabilityof 0.970. what is the
reliabirityof ihe system?

n"- : It R;(r;: (0.970)1

: 0.885
i- I
If,the.systemcomplexityis increasedso that it
containseight ofthesecomponents,
what is the new reliability?
8
,.c,"= fl R;(r) : (0.970)s: 0.78j

3:

L\-TRoDucrtoN

To RELL{BIltrt,

L\ DEsIcN

Ii rhe more complexsystemis required

to have the samereliabirityas
* the
!-;:\::il! i.e.,0.885,what must the
' simprer
reliabilityof eachcomponentb.t,
R; : (0.8tJ)ri8: 0.985

llll

Reliabilityis alwaysequarto or lessthan

unity. In addition,it is clear
iar upon muldpryingcomponentreliabirities,
the reriabilityof a comprexseries
-'.'s;emwi* decreaserapidry with many componenrs. Ii;
,yrt;;':onsists of
- io independentcomponentsin series (eaci compo".",
1"'"irg"a reliability

:: 99percent),
thesystem
reriabiriry
wi1te

400such
:::ironents in series,_
""rylii"p...."i"'fr,h
the reliability decreases
to r.g percent. we concrude
'-::: components
*hich
used in large nurnr.., in seriesin complex
sljstems
- -:srhaveextren,ely 11e
smallfailure rates.
The MTBF for a seriess)'stemin
usefurlife can be carcuratedby con"":::;:igthe individuar
rvtrBFs into failure rates,addingth.r.
;;;;; a sysrem
:' -::rerate and convertingthis
to u ,yrr.rn tnlfnf.
r'-il'lPLE 4-2 An airborn6-erectronic
system.has
a radar,a computer,and an
ii&*'r'::1 unit with MTBFs
of g3, 167, and500 h, respectively.
Find the system
u,uflif and the reliabilityfor
a 5_l op.'."ri"g1;;..

Unil

Equiva.lentfailure rate
feilurell000 h

MTBF,fi

Radar
Co m p uter
Auxiliary

R ,l
167
500

.t

r2
6
2

rotrl = 20
SystemIUTBF= 1000/29 = 56 6
urfrxrnlr
"i :-:

3,
g

nission

rfl*ifllllLlllt{h
i:- ::dar,

R :

gl%

R"r"(5) : r5t'"0 =gO%

:rmp u te r,R :9 7 f;
" _ :x i l i a ryR
, :9 9 %

#r it r f\E R GL Z E -D E -EN ER G IZ E

iltl
,r.

lllllln**
rr::': I in Eq. (4-lb).is the system
operatingrime. As written, there
is an
assumptionthat.a[ .orponant, in
ttr. ,yrt.rn operateco'tinuously for
"*'n,*flru':
illlllnru
s:-":: s)stemoperaiingperioo.
i. r."y ri,uations,however,not
all com_

R.:.t1er,
jf'll'..t:,tli: manner'.
tirevwill a"'
1',,,ffi:
u,l,lr**'
,:;J) partof thetimeandwill be'de_ine,rg'i'7Jf"","""i.1),il:.r.Tt:f
"nuiji) iiun.tioninn
illllltnr
xr:B* This can be treatectin various
wavs.

txtnooucttoN

To RErrABrLrry tN DESIGN

A question always arises,i.e., is it better to leave a systemon all the time

or to switch it on and oft'when needed? The answer dependson the ratio
of the probability of surviving the hours in the_unneededenergizedcondition
to the probability of surviving on-off switching cycles. In adiition, there
is
a question^of_
economy, since the cost of euergy consumedduring unnecessdry
.ooperation is important. At least equally important is the
fact i-trat energizei
componentsare subje:t to wearout or gradual degradation (including
exceeding
tolerance limits). These processesare neady nlnexistent in the
d-e-energized
condition.

E(AMPLE 4-3 consider a communication system consisting

of a transmitter,
t teceiver,and an encoder. Fairure of one causessystemfairure.
During g h
d communicationthe units operate for various periods. Determine
the reliability
br maintainingcommunications
without failure ior g h.
Unir

Operrting
priod,h

Feilurerate,
feilures/h

Transmitter
Receiver
Encoder

6
I
4

0.0267
0.00125
0.015

R;
0.16
r 0.01
0.05
total = 0.23

0.85
0.99
0.94

R"y" = -!rt : {o-23 : 0.79 = 79 perCent

{
P A R A L L EL

SY ST E M S

iAssume-thatthe n componentsin Fig. 4-3 are independentand

the systemwil
for operating time r; if any one of the componentssurvives (or the
sys."::hn fzil5 only if all the componentsfail), then the
unreliabilitv is

O"dr): Q'Q)Qdt)
Rsdr)=l-QsA t)
: l -IQ{t)Qdt)
= l -{ i l -fi (/X l
-t

Q"-r(r\Q"Q)

' Q"-,{t)Q"G)l

- Rdu...il- R,( dl

Q' Q ): | -

- R;(r)l

(4-5)

e is an imp-liedassumptionthat all units are operating simultaneously.)

The mortality of the parallel systemis

msdt):
- R{r)t
Ir*{D n,tl
the product is taken over all factors i from I to n, exceptwhen j :
;.

(4-7\

26

trrroD$crtox

to tELIArrLrry

Er DEsrcl{

vived up to ageT, i.e.,

/lr

R"..,.(4r)- (.*o
{- }[-*r

"-]])

d-:(ry7',d (3-re)
{i,^r-l(Lr")t;
wherethe terms rerateto early rife
[b1sd on the approximation for rdr] arthough
the weibull distribution caq be usedJ,usefurlife, and wearout
fire ftasea-on tt e
normal distributionarthoughthe weibull can be used),reading
from hft to right.
If f >5fc, thcn R" is essentially
eq*al ro unity. lt T+iStr;_n"y
1r."
Table 3-l), then .R. is essentially
equafto unity.
So far, we bave discussedbasic (nathematical) theory
and we have deveroped general expressions- The discrssion has been
in ir.*, oi"l*poo"nt,
or devicts- There has beeaan impricit assumptioa
of appricarionto ..doti""l,,
items in a populdion, an items being *loaded; and
operatea io tt * uu*e .rrunner' There is no necessity{or sucfr an assumptioain" tn*ory
apply equally weil (arthough comprexity increases)
its we go from "nJ
parts"quution,
through
compooeots,units, devices,subassemblies,assemtdies"
,"iryur".or,'u"A
*yrr"*,
to *super-systemso'
of great complexity.
once correct varuesfor failure rats or reliabilities (or
good estiruatesof
these values) of componentsin systemsare available,
o J" p"Ju*,
calculations of slsterrreliabilities even when the
"""",
systemsare the *ori **prr*
combinatio-ns
of
conceivable. The exactness trr.'r.ruo-lroo",
-components
rhe probability carcuratiocs (these are quite"rexact}
but on the
ljj^1"r{"::
exactnessof the data on which the calculations
are based.
Reliability calcurationsare a necessaryand integral
part of the design of
a syste*' once a deviceor systemhas been
designJ *b FrJ;;;n',ri.r.o,
however,relativetylittle can be done about
its reliability.

P RO B L E M S
approximated
bysubtractingthe

exponat
],, from
;*il":,,:-haf
:lf ?#
Hll;,JL:i'_ig1."n-n.-'.ry!##,#i;;;;;:"ffi

'-t

H,r?T*:Y:d^lT,,t:hY.[ty:*

which this is valid for 4, 5, and

6 decimal plaes.

3-2
thevalidiryof (a)Es.(3-l),til rq.6-rro)3-3 P:Tr$"
wnattstberrliabih-ty
of anenginewitha
failnrerate

-t-+'
't-5

1000
h? 10,000
h?

of Hlilg;t foranOperating
tinnof 100h?

is
ffiFfltr,":t:,fl*q.:";1ry5rr
MTBF,
9:0om2a:. wharisthefaitunrate,theMTTF,the
andtheretiabitity
foianoeerating-**
Determine the nunrbs of renlrffir
.-,inr
*.:-;J "ro.i'i6i'#'ilr=fr?Fj
^- ^- -,,

in
lig:^1'"tg1"9:lp$J*iffi
operation.
rworundred
"t,,*.;&;ffi;

;'oTo'*o*r"*
',i*,1..lJil.liJ
;fi,T.lr1ffiJff1#"#flT:

GIO!,IPONENT f,TFE

tI

fo-r75ftlhof usefultife duringtheyear;aad&ercrcatrfegffiopede6pm S,0mb $,I)0 h

of aga C.onpanypolcy dictatest}at no eneiBebe ogEtr ed ilr tte wrout period.

I
I

I
F
i

b=l xl 0{A rr
l "=txl 0t/ti r
4:=50 l r
Is = 50.000 hr
Is = 6i'009 hr

Agr.br+
,
givea
T6 A
component has an MTBF of 106h(a) What is the reliability for an operating period of I0 h?
(6) \ytratisthereliabilityforanopemringgriedoft0hhr5unitsinscries?
Forl0inseries?
(c) what is the reliability for a single com@ent for an
@eritirg perilcl of t00 h sLaiog from
an age of 1000 h? Frorn ar agc of ffi
h? rvlpr inherent assrrrption did yoa make?
(d) what is the reliability for a coaponent srHch stara qerating at ao
age of 2ts h ia useful
Iife? What assumption did you rcake?
(e) Draw corrclusions from comprisons of *re above cakllations3-V (a) Brimaie the reliability and failure rale of a test sarrde of 200 iresrs from a conponent
population if8 fail during tle first hour.
(b) If failing items are replaced, estimate rdiabilities srd failure
ates when t*o npre fail
during the second hour, fve rnore f*il during the &ird hour, fqr more fail during the
fourth and fifth hours, and eiglrt fail during the sixth through telrth hour.
{c) Estimatereliabilitiesandfailureratesforthedatahpart(r)ifnmeofthefaileditemsare
replaced
''(d) Compare the results aad draw corrcIusisrs. W'hat diference. if any, would ttrere be in the
I results ifthese were early or useful life tests?
eng'm slraft has a failure rate of0.5 X l0-r/hThcseslr used lrith rfte shaft lave a failure
''-18 --';An
rateof2.5Xl0-?h.
tfagivencompnytus3000engir*swiththescssaftsandsealsandeach
'
engine operates 350 days per year it useful life, estiEEtc t$e number ofshafs and scals that
ynust.be replaced annualll
J-9 A sanple of t50 componenG is subjectd to testing
{prcsmably in rncfid life)- Tker failures
are foundat theend ofilO0 h; fourmorpattheend of8fl) h:trryo moreattheendoll200h: four
more a1 the end of 1800 h; and nc furths failures are fornd when tbe tst is terminated at

25mh.

(a) Btimate the MTBF if failed componants are replaced *hen found(6) Esrimate the MTBF if no rephcernents are made.
(c) What is the most conservative estinnte you could m&e
using,rhese data?
J-.10 .Two t}'pes of components with ideaticat eletrical characteristics have
different &ilure rates:
. The failure rate of componeot I is f,r(r) = constant : I
ZJl000 h; for g it is Mr) : 10-6r
where r is in hours. which of the t*-o corwoflents is ns reliable for a rua of l& 1fi0, t000,

t0,0m h?
The failure rate for a certaintype of componentis Xr) = trotwherelo) 0 and k cons&utFind its reliability, mortality, and,MTTF. Repeatfor Xr) = l.orr/r.
II2
The failurerate for a certainrypeof cornpneot t rtr) a + bt wkrc c) 0 ard 6 > 0 are
constatrl Find reliability, rprtality, and MTTF.
3'13 A girea item has a random fahurerate of l0-r failurdh- Wearout ir uormally dstributed
with a mcan(Iy) of 1500h aad s $andard&ciation of ljO lL
3-ll

fi

rxrrooucnoN

To RELIABETTYtN DESIGN

Hminatingp" by substitution,i.e.,p, : (l - p, -P') and collectingterms'

Q : 2P,'+ 4P"' - 4Po3* Put - P,r
t p, and poaresmall, the last three terms can be neglected'then
A = 2p,2 * 4p.r
Tbe improvementfactor is
p,* p"
._0forsi
ngl e _
2p,2
quad
for
* 4p'2
Q

ilil

f r p, : p , : 0 .0 1 ,Gr : 3 3 .3 3

+ 10

S O L U T IO N

TO

4 .6

A q u e s ti o n w a s a s k e d w h e th e rtherel i abi ti tybl ockdi agramforFi g.4-4shoul d

the definition
be shown as seriesor parallel. The proper answer dependson
are norva-lves
two
If
the
system.
or criterion of adequateperformanceof the
is
a series
this
flow,
to
command
on
Provide
mally shut but are Jxpectedto opeo
open
normally
are
valves
two
the
If,
however,
system in ierms of ,itiubitity'
bu ta re e x p e c te d to s h u to n c o m m andtostopfl ow ,thi si saparal l el system
in termsof reliability.

IRO

B LE I } I S

what is the
A systemconsistsof 100units in series,eachunit havinga reliabilityof 0'99'
reliabilityofrhesyste;? Whaifractionofsuchsysternswillperformsatisfactorilv?
Wlrat must
strinf of Christmastreelightshas10 bulbsconnectedin series'
{-2 An old-fashioned
after
lighting
the
string
of
percent
chance
a
be
90
to
is
if,n"t.
t"
the reliabilityor.".r, iuli
one ysrr ofstorage?
*3Anunmannedmissiledesignedforspaceexplorationhas1000componenlsinseries.Ifthe
the samerelia'
missionis requiredto havJa reliabitiiyof 90 percentand eachcomponenthas
component?
bility, what mustbe the reliabilityof each
failurerateof 0'0050failure/h' Determine:
-4-4 A givencomponenthasa constant
(a) Reliabilityof oneunit for an operatingtime of 300h'
(6) Reliability.of two unitsin seriesfor an operatingtime of 150tt' -.
(c) Reliabilityof threeunitsin seriesfor an cperatingtimeof 100h'*
timeof 75 h'
(a) nenaUitityof four unis in seriesfor an operating
(possibly)all
* J-J A systemhas,' nont.OrnOu"i
; thiir fa.ilureratestri areconstant'but
"ontponents
for the case
different. Find the ,.iiubiti,y, mortality,and MfiF of the system. specialize
whenall tr; are eQual.
rr G5 Find the MTBF or the systemif five componentsin serieshaveconstantfaiiure ratesof 1'4'
1.7,1.g,1.2,and 1.6fail'rresper 1000h, respectively'
: +7 An equipmenthas 585components,
as listec below. It is specifiedthat the equipmentmust
for an 18-hmissiontime. Does the equipmentmeet
t.utiSSpercent
havea reliabilityof
"i
this specification?Ifso, how well?
l-1