Abstract :
Mathematical modeling in reliability engineering has been developed at two levels. In the first, a system or black box level, models were used for subsystem reliability apprtionment, synthesis of reliability predictions, and application of redundancy principles in design. The second level, developed as an adjunct to "Physics of Failure" studies, related the effects at atomic and nuclear levels of stresses on materials of component parts. These later models also led to analyses and comparisons of various physical degradation theories. A new intermediate level, developed by the Components and Materials Laboratory Hughes Aircraft Company, relates probable failure rates of component parts to their performance characteristics.
