Reliability analysis of dependent competing failure processes with time-varying δ shock model

The dependent competing failure process model has received increasing research attention in recent years due to its essential role in describing system reliability. For the o shock model, as a main type of shock in dependent competing failure process, the system fails if the interval of time between two sequential shocks is less than a threshold o. As the operation of systems, the aging effect will gradually increase. Thus, systems affected by shocks need more time to recover from damages. In the time-varying o shock model, if damage shocks occur, the degradation rate and o value will change multiple times simultaneously. Three failure processes consisting of a soft process induced by a degradation process and two sudden failure processes due to random shocks. Sudden failure processes include fatal shocks and damaged shocks. Damaged shocks affect systems in three different ways: (1) impacting systems by causing the degradation increment, (2) increasing the degradation rate of systems, and (3) impairing systems' performance by increasing the o value. A real-world example of a microelectromechanical system is presented to show the applicability of the reliability model. Sensitivity analysis is evaluated to demonstrate how parameters affect reliability.

Automated summary

The dependent competing failure process model has become increasingly important in reliability research, particularly for the o shock model. The aging effect of a system affects recovery time and the changing of o-value. Damaged shocks have three different effects on systems. An example of a microelectromechanical system is used to demonstrate the applicability of the reliability model. Sensitivity analysis is conducted to evaluate the impact of parameters on reliability.