On change point of Mean residual life of parallel systems

Abstract

Mean residual life is one of the most important characteristics that can be used to measure the reliability of parallel systems. In literature, mean residual life of parallel systems has been defined in different ways. How are these mean residual life functions related to each other? To answer this question, this paper studies the mean residual life of parallel systems from the point of view of change point, at which the mean residual life function changes its trend. Different definitions of the mean residual life of parallel systems are reviewed and introduced. By comparing the change points of these mean residual life functions graphically, we find that these change points behave in a regular pattern, and all of them are related to the change point for single components in the aspect of location. These results are helpful in the determination of optimal burn-in time. © 2008 IEEE.