Incorporating Component and System Test Data into the Same Assessment: A Bayesian Approach

Abstract

On occasion, reliability analysts have test data gathered both at the component level of a multicomponent system and at the system level. When the system test data provide no information on component performance, classical statistical techniques in all but trivial cases do not allow using both sets of data. We present a Bayesian procedure that does allow using both sets. The procedure for attribute data makes use of a lemma that relates the moments of the prior and posterior distributions of reliability to the test data. The procedure for variables data assumes the time to failure distribution of each component is exponential.