JBW Redundancy-Allocation Algorithm

A very simple heuristic redundancy-allocation algorithm for serial-parallel configurations is presented which: 1. Yields near-optimal system reliability under multiple resource system constraints. 2. Economically achieves a given redundant system reliability goal. 3. Accommodates both linear and nonlinear resource complexity functions. 4. Allows relative weighting of system resources. 5. Allows heterogeneous stages; ie. each stage is treated as a k-out-of-n:G model. The algorithm is conceptually and computationally simple and can be implemented with pencil-paper procedures and operations. Computational simplicity is demonstrated through the application of a TI-59 hand-held calculator program used to solve 12 previously published problems. The results obtained with the algorithm compares favorably with previous results. The TI-59 program is available in a separately available supplement.