Preservation of partial orderings under the formation of k-out-of-n:G systems of i.i.d. components

The authors discuss the preservation of certain partial orderings by a k-out-of-n:G system of i.i.d. components. If the lifetime of a component A is larger than that of a component B in the likelihood ratio, failure rate, or stochastic ordering, then a k-out-of-n:G system formed by n i.i.d. components of type A has a larger lifetime, in that ordering, than that of a similar system consisting of n i.i.d. components of type B. However, if the lifetime of a component A is larger than that of a component B in mean residual life, harmonic-average mean residual life, or variable orderings, it is not necessary that a k-out-of-n:G system formed by n i.i.d. components of type A has a larger lifetime, in that ordering, than that of a similar system consisting of n i.i.d. components of type B