TABLE OF CONTENTS We can now develop some of the reliability engineering concepts that we will need in subsequent chapters. Prior knowledge of the subject is not essential, as we will define the relevant terms and derive the necessary mathematical expressions. As this is not a text on reliability engineering, we will limit the scope of our discussion to the following areas of interest.
Failure histograms and probability density curves;
Survival probability and hazard rate;
Constant hazard rates, calculation of test intervals, and errors with the use of approximations;
Failure distributions and patterns, and the use of the Weibull distribution;
Generation of Weibull plots from maintenance records;
Weibull shape factor and its use in identifying maintenance strategies;
For a more detailed study of reliability engineering, we suggest that readers refer to the texts [3] , [4] , [6]listed at the end of the chapter.
[3]Hoyland A., and M. Rausand. 1994. System Reliability Theory. John Wiley and Sons, Inc. ISBN: 0471593974. 18-72. ( See also [3.1], [3.2] )
[4]Edwards, A.W.F. 1992. Likelihood. Johns Hopkins University Press. ISBN 0801844452 ( See also [4.1] )
[6]Davidson J. 1994. The Reliability of Mechanical Systems. Mechanical Engineering Publications, Ltd. ISBN 0852988818. 22-337( See also [6.1] )
