Modeling and analysis of systems with multimode components and dependent failures

A model for the reliability and performance analysis of systems where components can degrade in a statistically dependent manner is presented. This cause-based multimode model is based on the idea that deviations of components from the up state have underlying physical causes which can be explicitly identified and are statistically independent. The effects of several causes can be combined in a flexible manner. System reliability and performance measures can be computed approximately by considering the most probable states. Such states can be efficiently generated by algorithms developed for the earlier multimode, statistically independent failure model.<
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