Reliability analysis of a k-out-of-n:G repairable system with single vacation

Abstract This paper analyzes a k -out-of- n : G repairable system with one repairman who takes a single vacation, the duration of which follows a general distribution. The working time of each component is an exponentially distributed random variable and the repair time of each failed component is governed by an arbitrary distribution. Moreover, we assume that every component is “as good as new” after being repaired. Under these assumptions, several important reliability measures such as the availability, the rate of occurrence of failures, and the mean time to first failure of the system are derived by employing the supplementary variable technique and the Laplace transform. Meanwhile, their recursive expressions are obtained. Furthermore, through numerical examples, we study the influence of various parameters on the system reliability measures. Finally, the Monte Carlo simulation and two special cases of the system which are ( n - 1 ) -out-of- n : G repairable system and 1-out-of- n : G repairable system are presented to illustrate the correctness of the analytical results.