RELIABILITY OF CIRCULAR CONSECUTIVELY-CONNECTED SYSTEMS WITH MULTISTATE COMPONENTS

A circular consecutively-connected system with multistate components ( CCCSMC) consists of a set of n components e(i), i is an element of [1, n] arranged in a circle. The e(i) is followed by e(i+1), i is an eleme nt of [1,n-1]; e(n) is followed by e(1), The e(i) can be in 1 of the s tates O,...,k(i). If e(i) is in state k is an element of [0,k(i)], the n its range is k (the k components following e(i) are within its range ). The system is functioning if and only if, for every component e(j), j is an element of [1,n] there is an e(i) such that e(j) is within th e range of e(i). The paper gives a recursive algorithm for determining the CCCSMC reliability.