A New Life Expectancy Assessment Method for Complex Systems With Multi-Characteristics: Case Study on Power-Shift Steering Transmission Control System

Life is an important monitoring index for prognostic and health management systems. This paper proposes a new life expectancy assessment method for high-value complex systems with multi-characteristics based on goal-oriented (GO) method. First, the new life expectancy assessment method is expounded in detail, and its process is formulated. Then, the control system of power-shift steering transmission for a heavy vehicle, which is a typical mechatronics control system with multi-characteristics, such as multi-state, multi-function, and correlations, is taken as an example to evaluate its life expectancy by this paper's method. In order to verify the advantages, feasibility, and rationality of the new life expectancy assessment method, the results are compared with the results by Monte Carlo method. All in all, this life expectancy assessment method not only improves the theory of GO method, so that GO method is applied to evaluate the life expectancy of complex systems with multi-characteristics first, but also provides a new approach for life expectancy assessment of complex systems, which can take into consideration various system characteristics and only use unit life data, so that it is low evaluation cost, higher estimating efficiency and accuracy, and a more stable assessment result.