Reliability approximation for a complex system under the stress-strength model

This paper introduces a new approach for evaluating reliability of a complex system in terms of distributional parameters where analytical determination of reliability is intractable. The concept of discrete approximation, reported in the literature so far, fails to meet the latter requirement in terms of distributional parameters. The current work aims at offering a bound based approach where reliability planners not only get a clear idea about the extent of error but also can manipulate in terms of distributional parameters. This reliability approximation has been under taken under the Weibull frame work which is the most widely used model for reliability analysis. Numerical study has been carried out to examine the strength of our proposed reliability approximation via closeness between the two reliability bounds. This approach will be very useful during the early stages of product design as the distributional parameters can be adjusted.