Importance measures for noncoherent-system analysis

SUMMARY Component importance analysis is a key part of the system reliability quantification process. It enables the weakest areas of a system to be identified and indicates modifications, which will improve the system reliability. Although a wide range of importance measures have been developed, the majority of these measures are strictly for coherent system analysis. Non-coherent systems can occur and accurate importance analysis is essential. This paper extends four commonly used measures of importance, using the non-coherent extension of Birnbaum's measure of component reliability importance. NOTATION k C Prime implicant set k or minimal cut set k for non-coherent and coherent systems respectively.