On the Use of Stochastic Processes in Modeling Reliability Problems

Stochastic processes are powerful tools for the investigation of reliability and availability of repairable equipment and systems. Because of the involved models and in order to be mathematically tractable, these processes are generally confined to the class of regenerative stochastic processes. This contribution uses these processes in solving some reliability problems encountered in pratical applications. Investigations deal with different kinds of reliabilities and, availabilities for one item, series, parallel, and series/parallel structures.