A GENERALIZED MULTI-STANDBY MULTI-FAILURE MODE SYSTEM WITH VARIOUS REPAIR FACILITIES

We consider a system of (m + 1) non-identical units-one functioning an d m standby. Each unit of the system has the following states: normal, N types of partial failures and corresponding to them N types of tota l failures. There are k distinct major repair facilities and one on th e spot repairman. One unit can pass from one state to another with kno wn probability and then the time of staying in this state has a genera l distribution. The system starts to work at t = 0 and fails when the (m + 1)th unit after a total failure is finally rejected. Using semi-M arkov techniques we obtain Laplace transforms of transition probabilit ies. Considering particular cases we derive known results for systems which have been defined in the past. Copyright (C) 1997 Elsevier Scien ce Ltd.