A Heuristic Approach for Constrained Redundancy Optimization in Multi-state Systems

Abstract This paper proposes an efficient heuristic approach to solving the constrained redundancy optimization problem in multi-state systems (MSS) with multi-state components using minimal path vectors. A discrete multi-state model is considered, where the system state depends on the discipline of the elements' interaction in the system. When the multi-state nature of the system is considered, exact solution methodologies e.g. Dynamic, Integer Programming are no longer valid. The proposed heuristic offers an efficient and straightforward analysis. To illustrate the simplicity and ease of the application of the algorithm, solutions of a flow network problem with linear constraint and, bridge structure with linear as well as nonlinear constraints are obtained. The results would be applicable to multi-state design problems in real life.