System reliability analysis: The advantages of using analytical methods to analyze non-repairable systems

Most of the system analysis software available on the market today employs the use of simulation methods for estimating the reliability of non-repairable systems. Even though simulation methods are easy to apply and offer great versatility in modeling and analyzing complex systems, there are some limitations to their effectiveness. For example, if the number of simulations performed is not large enough, these methods can be error prone. In addition, performing a large number of simulations can be extremely time-consuming and simulation offers a small range of calculation results when compared to analytical methods. Analytical methods have been avoided due to their complexity in favor of the simplicity of using simulation. A software tool has been developed that calculates the exact analytical solution for the reliability of a system. Given the reliability equation for the system, further analyses on the system can be performed, such as computing exact values of the reliability, failure rate, at specific points in time, as well as computing the system MTTF (mean time to failure), and reliability importance measures for the components of the system. In addition, optimization and reliability allocation techniques can be utilized to aid engineers in their design improvement efforts. Finally, the time-consuming calculations and the non-repeatability issue of the simulation methodology are eliminated.