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Crow-AMSAA (NHPP) Model

Confidence Bounds Examples Using the Crow-AMSAA Model

General Examples Using the Crow-AMSAA Model

Time-to-Failure Data

Fielded Systems Data

Confidence Bounds for the Crow-AMSAA Model

This section presents the methods used in the RGA software to estimate the confidence bounds for the Crow-AMSAA model when applied to developmental testing data. RGA provides two methods to estimate the confidence bounds. The Fisher Matrix (FM) method, which is commonly employed in the reliability field, is based on the Fisher information matrix. The Crow Bounds (Crow) method has been developed by Dr. Crow.

Bounds on Beta

Fisher Matrix Bounds

The parameter $\beta $ must be positive, thus $\ln \beta $ is treated as being normally distributed as well. MATHThe approximate confidence bounds are given as: MATH (7)$\alpha $ in $z_{\alpha }$ is different ($\alpha /2$, $\alpha $) according to a 2-sided confidence interval or a 1-sided confidence interval, and variances can be calculated using the Fisher Matrix. MATH (8)

$\Lambda $ is the natural log-likelihood function: MATH

MATH (9) and: MATH (10) also: MATH (11)

Crow Bounds

Time Terminated Data

For the 2-sided $(1-\alpha )$100-percent confidence interval on $\beta $, calculate:

MATH

The fractiles can be found in the tables of the $\chi ^{2}$ distribution. Thus the confidence bounds on $\beta $ are:

MATH (12)

Failure Terminated Data

For the 2-sided $(1-\alpha )$100-percent confidence interval on $\beta $, calculate:

MATH

Thus the confidence bounds on $\beta $ are:

      MATH (13)
MATH

Bounds on Lambda

Fisher Matrix Bounds

The parameter $\lambda $ must be positive, thus $\ln \lambda $ is treated as being normally distributed as well. These bounds are based on: MATHThe approximate confidence bounds on $\lambda $ are given as: MATH (14)where: MATHThe variance calculation is the same as Eqn. (8).

Crow Bounds

Time Terminated Data

For the 2-sided $(1-\alpha )$100-percent confidence interval, the confidence bounds on $\lambda $ are:

      MATH (15)
MATH

The fractiles can be found in the tables of the $\chi ^{2}$ distribution.

Failure Terminated Data

For the 2-sided $(1-\alpha )$100-percent confidence interval, the confidence bounds on $\lambda $ are:

       MATH (16)
MATH

Bounds on Growth Rate

Since the growth rate is equal to $1-\beta $, the confidence bounds for both the Fisher Matrix and Crow methods are:

MATH (17)
MATH

For the Fisher Matrix confidence bounds, $\beta _{L}$ and $\beta _{U}$ are obtained from Eqn. (7). For the Crow bounds, $\beta _{L}$ and $\beta _{U}$ are obtained from Eqns. (12) and (13) depending on whether the analysis is for time terminated data or failure terminated data.

Bounds on Cumulative MTBF

Fisher Matrix Bounds

The cumulative MTBF, $m_{c}(t)$, must be positive, thus $\ln m_{c}(t)$ is treated as being normally distributed as well.

MATH

The approximate confidence bounds on the cumulative MTBF are then estimated from:

MATH (18) where: MATH

MATHThe variance calculation is the same as Eqn. (8) and:

MATH

Crow Bounds

To calculate the Crow confidence bounds on cumulative MTBF, first calculate the Crow cumulative failure intensity confidence bounds: MATH MATH

Then:

MATH (19)

Bounds on Instantaneous MTBF

Fisher Matrix Bounds

The instantaneous MTBF, $m_{i}(t)$, must be positive, thus $\ln m_{i}(t)$ is treated as being normally distributed as well. MATH

The approximate confidence bounds on the instantaneous MTBF are then estimated from: MATH (20) where: MATH MATH

The variance calculation is the same as Eqn. (8) and:

MATH

Crow Bounds

Failure Terminated Data

Consider the following equation: MATH

Find the values $p_{1}$ and $p_{2}$ by finding the solution $c$ to $G(n^{2}/c|n)=\xi $ for MATH and MATH, respectively. If using the biased parameters, $\hat{\beta}$ and $\hat{\lambda}$, then the upper and lower confidence bounds are:

MATH

where MATH. If using the unbiased parameters, $\bar{\beta}$ and $\bar{\lambda}$, then the upper and lower confidence bounds are:

MATH

where MATH.

Time Terminated Data

Consider the following equation where $I_{1}(.)$ is the modified Bessel function of order one: MATH

Find the values $\Pi _{1}$ and $\Pi _{2}$ by finding the solution $x$ to MATH and MATH in the cases corresponding to the lower and upper bounds, respectively. Calculate MATH for each case. If using the biased parameters, $\hat{\beta}$ and $\hat{\lambda}$, then the upper and lower confidence bounds are:

MATH

where MATH. If using the unbiased parameters, $\bar{\beta}$ and $\bar{\lambda}$, then the upper and lower confidence bounds are:

MATH

where MATH.

Bounds on Cumulative Failure Intensity

Fisher Matrix Bounds

The cumulative failure intensity, MATH, must be positive, thus MATH is treated as being normally distributed. MATH

The approximate confidence bounds on the cumulative failure intensity are then estimated from: MATH (21)

where: MATH and: MATH

The variance calculation is the same as Eqn. (8) and: MATH

Crow Bounds

The Crow cumulative failure intensity confidence bounds are given as:

      MATH (22)
MATH

Bounds on Instantaneous Failure Intensity

Fisher Matrix Bounds

The instantaneous failure intensity, MATH, must be positive, thus MATH is treated as being normally distributed. MATHThe approximate confidence bounds on the instantaneous failure intensity are then estimated from: MATH (23)

where

MATH MATH

The variance calculation is the same as Eqn. (8) and: MATH

Crow Bounds

The Crow instantaneous failure intensity confidence bounds are given as:   

      MATH (24)
MATH

Bounds on Time Given Cumulative Failure Intensity

Fisher Matrix Bounds

The time, $T$, must be positive, thus $\QTR{group}{\ln T}$ is treated as being normally distributed. MATHConfidence bounds on the time are given by: MATH (25)where: MATHThe variance calculation is the same as Eqn. (8) and: MATHMATH

Crow Bounds

Step 1: Calculate:

MATH

Step 2: Estimate the number of failures:

MATH

Step 3: Obtain the confidence bounds on time given the cumulative failure intensity by solving for $t_{l}$ and $t_{u}$ in the following equations:   MATH (26) MATH

Bounds on Time Given Cumulative MTBF

Fisher Matrix Bounds

The time, $T$, must be positive, thus $\QTR{group}{\ln T}$ is treated as being normally distributed. MATHConfidence bounds on the time are given by: MATH (27)where: MATHThe variance calculation is the same as Eqn. (8) and: MATHMATH

Crow Bounds

Step 1: Calculate MATH.

Step 2: Use the equations presented in the Bounds on Time Given Cumulative Failure Intensity section of this on-line reference to calculate the bounds on time given the cumulative failure intensity.

Bounds on Time Given Instantaneous MTBF

Fisher Matrix Bounds

The time, $T$, must be positive, thus $\QTR{group}{\ln T}$ is treated as being normally distributed. MATHConfidence bounds on the time are given by: MATH (28)where: MATHThe variance calculation is the same as Eqn. (8) and:

MATH

MATH

Crow Bounds

Step 1: Calculate the confidence bounds on the instantaneous MTBF as presented in the Confidence Bounds on MTBF for Repairable Systems subsection of the Repairable Systems section of this on-line reference.

Step 2: Calculate the bounds on time as follows.

Failure Terminated Data

MATH

So the lower an upper bounds on time are:

MATH

MATH

Time Terminated Data

MATH

So the lower and upper bounds on time are:

MATH

MATH

Bounds on Time Given Instantaneous Failure Intensity

Fisher Matrix Bounds

The time, $T$, must be positive, thus $\QTR{group}{\ln T}$ is treated as being normally distributed.

MATH

Confidence bounds on the time are given by:

MATH (29)

where:

 

MATH

The variance calculation is the same as Eqn. (8) and:

MATH

MATH

Crow Bounds

Step 1: Calculate MATH.

Step 2: Use the equations in the Bounds on Time Given Instantaneous MTBF section of this on-line reference to calculate the bounds on time given the instantaneous failure intensity.

Bounds on Cumulative Number of Failures

Fisher Matrix Bounds

The cumulative number of failures, $\QTR{group}{N(t)}$, must be positive, thus MATH is treated as being normally distributed. MATH

MATH (30)

where: MATH MATH

The variance calculation is the same as Eqn. (8) and: MATH

Crow Bounds

The Crow cumulative number of failure confidence bounds are:

      MATH (31)
MATH

where MATH and MATH can be obtained from Eqn. (24).