Group Replacement Policies for Repairable N-Component Parallel Systems

For a multiple component parallel system, the operation of each component is independent, that is, any failure of component will not affect the normal operation of the system. Due to the inevitable deterioration of the component, it may fail more frequently when its age increases. In order to reduce the number of failures, the component should be replaced at a certain age. When a replacement action of the component is performed, it will incur a replacement cost and a setup cost. Under this situation, grouping replacement for all components is an important policy in order to reduce setup cost. This paper derives a formula of the grouping replacement for a n-component parallel system. Further, an optimal grouping replacement method is offered, and the optimal replacement time of each group is obtained.