System Availability and Optimum Spare Units

Abstract

The steady-state availability of a repairable system with cold standbys and nonzero replacement time is maximized under constraints of total cost and total weight. Likewise the cost can be minimized under constraints of steady-state availability and total weight. A new, more efficient algorithm is used for the constrained optimization. The problem is formulated as a nonlinear integer programming problem. Since the objective functions are monotone, it is easy to obtain optimal solutions. These new algorithms are natural extensions of the Lawler-Bell algorithm. Availability is adjusted by the number of spares allowed. Other measures of system goodness are considered, viz, failure rate, weight, price, mean repair time, mean repair cost, mean replacement time, and mean replacement cost of a unit.