Reliability analysis method of competitive failure processes considering the coupling effect of multiple shock processes and degradation process

Abstract

During the operational phase, complex systems are subject to various shocks, both random and continuous degradation. This coupling effect poses significant challenges for reliability assessment. The proposed method aims to provide a clear and objective evaluation of the system's reliability. In this paper, we propose a competitive failure reliability analysis method that considers the coupling effect of multiple shock processes and degradation processes. The random shocks are subdivided into external and internal shocks. The degradation increment is mainly influenced by external shocks, whereas internal shocks affect the degradation rate. The combined effect of these two shock processes accelerates the failure processes. Additionally, two different shock models are combined to create an extreme‐cumulative shock model to assess the impact of various shock processes and the degradation process on system reliability. The analysis examines the coupling effect between the degradation process and shock processes to explore the influence law between hard failure and soft failure. Subsequently, the reliability modeling of competitive failure processes is completed. Finally, practical case studies demonstrate the effectiveness and practicality of the proposed method.