Optimal Reliability and Cost of Non-Repairable Systems Subject to Two Failure Modes Considering Correlated Failures

Most reliability models assume that components and systems experience one failure mode. Several systems such as hardware, however, are prone to more than one mode of failure. Past two-failure mode research derives equations to maximize reliability or minimize cost by identifying the optimal number of components. However, many if not all of these equations are derived from models that make the simplifying assumption that components fail in a statistically independent manner. In this paper, models to assess the impact of correlation on two-failure mode system reliability and cost are developed and corresponding expressions for reliability and cost optimal designs derived. Our illustrations demonstrate that, despite correlation, the approach identifies reliability and cost optimal designs.