Development of a MATLAB tool based on graph theory for evaluating reliability of complex mechatronic systems

Abstract

Evaluation of reliability is very important entity for the design and operation of systems. The safety, dependability, availability, Mean Time To Failure (MTTF), Mean Time Between Failure (MTBF), Mean Time To Repair (MTTR) and life cycle of the designed system can be judged from this reliability evaluation. For simple systems, the evaluation is straightforward. However, for complex systems, an algorithmic procedure is required. This paper presents an algorithmic procedure based on information matrices derived from graph theoretic approach. A simulation tool is developed that applies the algorithm to evaluate the reliability of complex systems.