This subchapter includes the following topics:
Confidence Bounds on the Mean Life
The mean life for the T-NT model is given by Eqn. ( 1) by setting m = L(V). The upper mU and lower mL bounds on the mean life (ML estimate of the mean life) are estimated by:
(13)
(14)
where Kα is defined by:

If
is the confidence level,
then α =
for
the two-sided bounds and α
=1-
for the one-sided bounds.
The variance of
is given
by:

or:

The variances and covariance of B, C and n are estimated from
the local Fisher Matrix (evaluated at
,
,
) as
follows:

where:

Confidence Bounds on Reliability
The bounds on reliability at a given time, T, are estimated by:

where mU and mL are estimated using Eqns. ( 13) and ( 14).
Confidence Bounds in Time
The bounds on time for a given reliability (ML estimate of time) are estimated by first solving the reliability function with respect to time:
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The corresponding confidence bounds are estimated from:

where mU and mL are estimated using Eqns. ( 13) and ( 14).
Bounds on the Parameters
Using the same approach as previously discussed (
and
positive parameters):

and:

The variances and covariances of β, B,
C
and n are estimated from
the Fisher Matrix (evaluated at
,
,
,
) as follows:

where:

Confidence Bounds on Reliability
The reliability function (ML estimate) for the T-NT Weibull model is given by:

or:

Setting:

or:

The reliability function now becomes:
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The next step is to find the upper and lower bounds on u:
(15)
(16)
where:

or:

The upper and lower bounds on reliability are:

where uU and uL are estimated using Eqns. (15) and (16).
Confidence Bounds on Time
The bounds on time (ML estimate of time) for a given reliability are estimated by first solving the reliability function with respect to time as follows:

or:

where
= ln
.
The upper and lower bounds on u are estimated from:
(17)
(18)
where:

or:

The upper and lower bounds on time are then found by:

where uU and uL are estimated using Eqns. (17) and (18).
Bounds on the Parameters
Since the standard deviation,
and
are positive parameters, ln
(
) and ln (
)
are treated as normally distributed and the bounds are estimated from:
(upper bound)
(lower bound)
and
(upper bound)
(lower bound)
The lower and upper bounds on B and n, are estimated from:
(upper bound)
(lower bound)
and
(upper bound)
(lower bound)
The variances and covariances of B, C, n and
are estimated from the local Fisher Matrix (evaluated at
,
,
,
) as follows:

where:

Bounds on Reliability
The reliability of the lognormal distribution is given by:

Let
(t, U, V; B, C, n,
)
=
,
then
.
For t =
,
=
and for t =
,
=
.
The above equation then becomes:

The bounds on z are estimated from:

where:

or:

The upper and lower bounds on reliability are:
(upper bound)
(lower bound)
Confidence Bounds on Time
The bounds around time, for a given lognormal percentile (unreliability), are estimated by first solving the reliability equation with respect to time, as follows:

where:

and:

The next step is to calculate the variance of
(U,
V;
,
,
,
):

or:

The upper and lower bounds are then found by:

Solving for TU and TL yields:

See Also:
Temperature-NonThermal Relationship
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