Reliability Evaluation of Network‐Structured Systems With Performance‐Sharing Mechanisms

A performance‐sharing system refers to a type of system composed of multiple units, where each unit, during normal operation, can transfer or share its surplus performance to other units in the system that are experiencing performance deficiency, thereby enhancing the overall reliability of the system. Network structures are prevalent in practical engineering applications. Although numerous studies have focused on network reliability optimization, there exists a notable gap in research dedicated to enhancing the reliability of networked structural systems from the perspective of performance sharing. This paper focuses on network‐structured performance‐sharing systems, starting from the node with the lowest expected performance and sharing surplus performance to it via a bus from the adjacent node with the highest expected performance. This process continues until all nodes have participated in sharing. Additionally, this paper proposes a universal generating function‐based method for estimating the reliability of network‐structured systems. An illustrative example and a case study of a maintenance service network are used to validate the proposed method. The novelty of this study lies in being the first to propose an expected‐performance‐based performance‐sharing mechanism for network‐structured systems, along with a methodology for modeling and evaluating the reliability of such performance‐sharing network topologies. This study establishes a novel and effective avenue for augmenting the reliability of complex network‐structured systems through performance sharing, offering substantial implications for the design of robust networks operating under resource constraints.