Numerical evaluation of network fuzzy reliability

Network reliability is extensively used to measure the degree of stability of the quality of infrastructure services. In conventional network reliability theory, it is assumed that the exact value of each arc reliability are given. However, in many real world network it is difficult to estimate precise values of reliability. So a general fuzzy network model where reliability are presented as fuzzy values is proposed in some articles. Due to difficulty of obtaining the analytic solution of network fuzzy reliability, membership functions of reliability of each arc and the entire network are usually assumed as trigonometric function. But there are many other kinds of membership functions, such as rectangular function, trapezoidal function, parabolic function, and so on. So, new techniques are needed to overcome these deficiencies. The paper considers a new algorithm where membership functions of reliability of each arc are optional and the entire network fuzzy reliability can been obtained by numerical calculation. The detailed solution procedure is presented and illustrative examples are also presented to demonstrate the algorithm.