The evolution of system reliability optimization

•Research pertaining to system reliability optimization has been categorized chronologically into three eras.•The first era, the era of mathematical programming involved rigorous optimization methods, yet the problems are not always realistic.•The second era, the era of pragmatism, involved expandin...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Reliability engineering & system safety 2019-12, Vol.192, p.106259, Article 106259
Main Authors: Coit, David W., Zio, Enrico
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Complex systems
Computer Science
Continuous improvement
Domains
Engineering
Evolution
Mathematical analysis
Mathematical programming
Operations research
Optimization
Redundancy
Reliability engineering
System reliability
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Summary:•Research pertaining to system reliability optimization has been categorized chronologically into three eras.•The first era, the era of mathematical programming involved rigorous optimization methods, yet the problems are not always realistic.•The second era, the era of pragmatism, involved expanding the problem domain to include a broader range of problems, and more realistic problems.•The final and current era, the era of active reliability improvement involves dynamic reliability optimization models responding to changing conditions and data.•System reliability optimization problems remain challenging, but important, while both the problems and corresponding solution methods evolve. System reliability optimization is a living problem, with solutions methodologies that have evolved with the advancements of mathematics, development of new engineering technology, and changes in management perspectives. In this paper, we consider the different types of system reliability optimization problems, including as examples, the redundancy allocation problem (RAP), the reliability allocation problem and the reliability-redundancy allocation problem (RRAP), and provide a flow of discussion and analysis on the evolution of the approaches for their solutions. We consider the development and advancement in the fields of operations research and optimization theory, which have allowed the formalization and continuous improvement of the methods and techniques to address reliability design problems of even very complex systems in different technological domains. Technological advances have naturally brought changes of perspectives in response to the needs, interests and priorities of the practical engineering world. The flow is organized in a structure of successive “Eras of Evolution,” namely the Era of Mathematical Programming, the Era of Pragmatism, the Era of Active Reliability Improvement. Insights, challenges and opportunities are highlighted.
ISSN:0951-8320
1879-0836
DOI:10.1016/j.ress.2018.09.008