SURVIVAL FUNCTION OF A COMPONENT UNDER RANDOM STRENGTH ATTENUATION

In this paper the survival of a component, prone to attacks by a succe ssion of random stresses, is examined under the assumption that the st rength of the component is attenuated and these attenuated factors are random variables. Expressions have been obtained for these attenuatio n factors: (i) when the stress strength follows exponential distributi on and the random attenuation factors follow rectangular distribution; (ii) when the stress strength follows exponential distribution with t he attenuation factors following beta distribution; (iii) when the str ess following exponential distribution, strength following gamma distr ibution and the random attenuation factors following beta distribution . Copyright (C) 1996 Elsevier Science Ltd.