Reliability Assessment via Combining Data from Similar Systems

In operational testing contexts, testers face dual challenges of constrained timeframes and limited resources, both of which impede the generation of reliability test data. To address this issue, integrating data from similar systems with test data can effectively expand data sources. This study proposes a systematic approach wherein the mission of the system under test (SUT) is decomposed to identify candidate subsystems for data combination. A phylogenetic tree representation is constructed for subsystem analysis and subsequently mapped to a mixed integer programming (MIP) model, enabling efficient computation of similarity factors. A reliability assessment model that combines data from similar subsystems is established. The similarity factor is regarded as a covariate, and the regression relationship between it and the subsystem failure time distribution is established. Leveraging Bayesian theory, the joint posterior distribution of regression coefficients is derived. These coefficients are then sampled via the No-U-Turn Sampler (NUTS) algorithm to obtain reliability estimates. Numerical case studies demonstrate that the proposed method outperforms existing approaches, yielding more robust similarity factors and higher accuracy in reliability assessments.