Two-sample nonparametric test for comparing mean time to failure functions in age replacement

Abstract A two-sample nonparametric test based on two independent samples is proposed for comparing mean time to failure (MTTF) functions of two life distributions. The proposed test has the flexibility of handling unequal sample sizes and crossings of mean time to failure functions. The test is shown to be consistent and a bound on asymptotic size has been derived. A computational technique is devised for evaluating the proposed test statistic. A simulation study is carried out for assessment of the merit of the proposed test procedure. Finally, the test is applied to real-life data sets for illustration.