Bayesian system reliability assessment under fuzzy environments

The Bayesian system reliability assessment under fuzzy environments is proposed in this paper. In order to apply the Bayesian approach, the fuzzy parameters are assumed as fuzzy random variables with fuzzy prior distributions. The (conventional) Bayes estimation method will be used to create the fuzzy Bayes point estimator of system reliability by invoking the well-known theorem called 'Resolution Identity' in fuzzy sets theory. On the other hand, we also provide the computational procedures to evaluate the membership degree of any given Bayes point estimate of system reliability. In order to achieve this purpose, we transform the original problem into a nonlinear programming problem. This nonlinear programming problem is then divided into four subproblems for the purpose of simplifying computation. Finally, the subproblems can be solved by using any commercial optimizers, e.g. GAMS or LINGO. (C) 2003 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.