M-consecutive-k-out-of-n: F structures with a single change point

Abstract

In the present article, we introduce the m-consecutive-k-out-of-n: F structures with a single change point. The aforementioned system consists of n independent components, of which the first n1 units are identically distributed with common reliability p1, while the remaining ones share a different functioning probability p2 . The general setup of the proposed reliability structures is presented in detail, while an explicit expression for determining the number of its path sets of a given size is derived. Additionally, closed formulae for the reliability function and mean time to failure of the aforementioned models are also provided. For illustration purposes, several numerical results and comparisons are presented in order to shed light on the performance of the proposed structure. © 2020 by the author. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.