System Reliability: Exact Bayesian Intervals Compared with Fiducial Intervals

This paper compares numerically two different, widely used lower limit estimates for the reliability of a series system: Bayesian limits and fiducial limits. The fiducial limits are obtained by Monte Carlo simulation because of its simplicity and ease of computer programming. Subsystem failures are s-independent and exponentially distributed; life test data are available for estimating the failure rate of each system.