An analytical model for interactive failures

In some systems, failures of certain components can interact with each other, and accelerate the failure rates of these components. These failures are defined as interactive failure. Interactive failure is a prevalent cause of failure associated with complex systems, particularly in mechanical systems. The failure risk of an asset will be underestimated if the interactive effect is ignored. When failure risk is assessed, interactive failures of an asset need to be considered. However, the literature is silent on previous research work in this field. This paper introduces the concepts of interactive failure, develops an analytical model to analyse this type of failure quantitatively, and verifies the model using case studies and experiments. (c) 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.