The Universal Generating Function in Reliability Analysis and Optimization

Many real-world systems in engineering are composed of multi-state components that have different performance levels and several failure modes. These have effects on the entire system’s performance.

Most books on reliability theory are devoted to traditional binary models that only allow a system either to function perfectly or fail completely.

The Universal Generating Function in Reliability Analysis and Optimization is the first book that gives a comprehensive description of the universal generating function technique and its applications in both binary and multi-state system reliability analysis.

Features:

an introduction to the basic tools used in multi-state system reliability and optimization;

applications of the universal generating function in the most widely used multi-state systems;

several examples of how the universal generating function can be adapted to different systems in mechanical, industrial and software engineering.
The Universal Generating Function in Reliability Analysis and Optimization will be of value to all those interested in multi-state systems in industrial, electrical and nuclear engineering.

The Springer Series in Reliability Engineering publishes high-quality books in important areas of current theoretical research and development in reliability, and in areas that bridge the gap between theory and application in areas of interest to practitioners in industry, laboratories, business, and government.

Dr. Gregory Levitin is an 'engineer-expert' in the Reliability and Equipment Department of the R and D Division of the Israel Electric Corporation and an adjunct senior lecturer at Technion, the Israel Institute of Technology. He has held these posts since 1993.

Dr. Levitin has published 79 papers in refereed journals, one book, Multistate System Reliability: Assessment, Optimization and Applications (Lisnianksi and Levitin, World Scientific, 2003). He was an invited contributor to the Handbook of Reliability Engineering (Springer London, 2003) and is considered to be an authoritative and experienced researcher in reliability and optimization.

In addition to being a senior member of the IEEE, Dr. Levitin is also a member on the editorial board of the journal Reliability Engineering and System Safety. In 2000, Dr. Levitin was awarded a prize in the London Electricity Innovation Challenge. He has also been the organizer of special sessions on multi-state reliability at the Mathematic Methods in Reliability conferences in 2002 and 2004.