7,189 research outputs found

    Accelerated degradation tests planning with competing failure modes

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    Accelerated degradation tests (ADT) have been widely used to assess the reliability of products with long lifetime. For many products, environmental stress not only accelerates their degradation rate but also elevates the probability of traumatic shocks. When random traumatic shocks occur during an ADT, it is possible that the degradation measurements cannot be taken afterward, which brings challenges to reliability assessment. In this paper, we propose an ADT optimization approach for products suffering from both degradation failures and random shock failures. The degradation path is modeled by a Wiener process. Under various stress levels, the arrival process of random shocks is assumed to follow a nonhomogeneous Poisson process. Parameters of acceleration models for both failure modes need to be estimated from the ADT. Three common optimality criteria based on the Fisher information are considered and compared to optimize the ADT plan under a given number of test units and a predetermined test duration. Optimal two- and three-level optimal ADT plans are obtained by numerical methods. We use the general equivalence theorems to verify the global optimality of ADT plans. A numerical example is presented to illustrate the proposed methods. The result shows that the optimal ADT plans in the presence of random shocks differ significantly from the traditional ADT plans. Sensitivity analysis is carried out to study the robustness of optimal ADT plans with respect to the changes in planning input

    A Data-Driven Predictive Model of Reliability Estimation Using State-Space Stochastic Degradation Model

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    The concept of the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) provides the foundation to apply data-driven methodologies. The data-driven predictive models of reliability estimation can become a major tool in increasing the life of assets, lowering capital cost, and reducing operating and maintenance costs. Classical models of reliability assessment mainly rely on lifetime data. Failure data may not be easily obtainable for highly reliable assets. Furthermore, the collected historical lifetime data may not be able to accurately describe the behavior of the asset in a unique application or environment. Therefore, it is not an optimal approach anymore to conduct a reliability estimation based on classical models. Fortunately, most of the industrial assets have performance characteristics whose degradation or decay over the operating time can be related to their reliability estimates. The application of the degradation methods has been recently increasing due to their ability to keep track of the dynamic conditions of the system over time. The main purpose of this study is to develop a data-driven predictive model of reliability assessment based on real-time data using a state-space stochastic degradation model to predict the critical time for initiating maintenance actions in order to enhance the value and prolonging the life of assets. The new degradation model developed in this thesis is introducing a new mapping function for the General Path Model based on series of Gamma Processes degradation models in the state-space environment by considering Poisson distributed weights for each of the Gamma processes. The application of the developed algorithm is illustrated for the distributed electrical systems as a generic use case. A data-driven algorithm is developed in order to estimate the parameters of the new degradation model. Once the estimates of the parameters are available, distribution of the failure time, time-dependent distribution of the degradation, and reliability based on the current estimate of the degradation can be obtained

    A Bayesian Optimal Design for Accelerated Degradation Testing Based on the Inverse Gaussian Process

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    Accelerated degradation testing (ADT) is commonly used to obtain degradation data of products by exerting loads over usage conditions. Such data can be used for estimating component lifetime and reliability under usage conditions. The design of ADT entails to establish a model of the degradation process and define the test plan to satisfy given criteria under the constraint of limited test resources. Bayesian optimal design is a method of decision theory under uncertainty, which uses historical data and expert information to find the optimal test plan. Different expected utility functions can be selected as objectives. This paper presents a method for Bayesian optimal design of ADT, based on the inverse Gaussian process and considering three objectives for the optimization: Relative entropy, quadratic loss function, and Bayesian D-optimality. The Markov chain Monte Carlo and the surface fitting methods are used to obtain the optimal plan. By sensitivity analysis and a proposed efficiency factor, the Bayesian D-optimality is identified as the most robust and appropriate objective for Bayesian optimization of ADT
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