Date of Award

2000

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department

Industrial Engineering

First Advisor

Gerald M. Knapp

Abstract

This research presents new approaches to the estimation of component reliability distribution parameters from partially masked and/or censored system life data. Such data are common in continuous production environments. The methods were tested on Monte Carlo simulated data and compared to the only alternative suggested in literature. This alternative did not converge on many masked datasets. The new methods produce accurate parameter estimates, particularly at low masking levels. They show little bias. One method ignores masked data and treats them as censored observations. It works well if at least 2 known-cause failures of each component type have been observed and is particularly useful for analysis of any size datasets with a small fraction of masked observations. It provides quick and accurate estimates. A second method performs well when the number of masked observations is small but forms a significant portion of the dataset and/or when the assumption of independent masking does not hold. The third method provides accurate estimates when the dataset is small but contains a large fraction of masked observations and when independent masking is assumed. The latter two methods provide an indication which component most likely caused each masked system failure, albeit at the price of much computation time. The methods were implemented in user-friendly software that can be used to apply the method on simulated or real-life data. An application of the methods to real-life industrial data is presented. This research shows that masked system life data can be used effectively to estimate component life distribution parameters in a situation where such data form a large portion of the dataset and few known failures exist. It also demonstrates that a small fraction of masked data in a dataset can safely be treated as censored observations without much effect on the accuracy of the resulting estimates. These results are important as masked system life data are becoming more prevalent in industrial production environments. The research results are gauged to be useful in continuous manufacturing environments, e.g. in the petrochemical industry. They will also likely interest the electronics and automotive industry where masked observations are common.

ISBN

9780493069715

Pages

295

DOI

10.31390/gradschool_disstheses.7334

Download

Share

COinS