6. Reliability Simulation

Simulating P(event) = 0.8, using pseudo-random r: 0.0 <= r <= 1.0

  if( r <= 0.8) ... i.e. with reliability 0.8, if component works

or:

  if( r >= 0.2) ...

series vs. parallel

 --> c1 -> c2 -> c3 -->    if( c1 && c2 && c3) ... ok


    |-> c1 ->|
    |        |
 -->|-> c2 ->|-->          if( c1 || c2 || c3) ... ok
    |        |
    |-> c3 ->|

General Monte-Carlo simulation framework:

  double p;
  int success = 0, i, trials = 100000;

  for( i = 0; i < trials; ++i)
  {
    ... simulate one trial, if ok then ++success; ...
  }

  p = success;

  p /= trials;  /* estimate of probability of success */

chapter4_7.c - reliability simulation

P4.17 - Component Reliability Simulation