Reliability optimization for load-sharing systems with exponentially distributed units

Abstract

The load-sharing system is a class of redundant technology that allocate the total load to all surviving units, which can effectively improve the quality and reliability of the system. The units of the load-sharing system are dependent because of the load sharing mechanism, and the most popular load allocation strategy is equal load allocation strategy. However, the units of the load-sharing system are not always in the same reliability level, and equal load allocation strategy may not lead to the highest system reliability in this case. Confronted with this problem, this paper proposes a new load allocation strategy based on the practical lifetime characteristics of the units. The studied load-sharing system consists of two or three exponentially distributed units. Reliability models for these two kinds of systems are developed theoretically and numerically. Simulation results show that the proposed load-sharing strategy can greatly improve the system reliability.