Modeling and analysis of the catastrophic failure and degradation data

Abstract In this paper, we are concerned with the reliability models and analysis methods for the case where catastrophic and degradation failure modes are considered simultaneously. First, the existing degradation models and analysis methods are reviewed and classified. In particular, the existing methods for analyzing degradation data are classified into the “horizontal axis” and “vertical axis” methods. Second, based on the above degradation models and analysis methods, a systematic procedure for simultaneously analyzing catastrophic failure times and degradation measurement data are presented. Finally, using the data in Huang and Askin (2003), comparative analysis results are presented with respect to the direction of analysis (i.e., horizontal versus vertical).