Redundancy Optimization in General Systems

An algorithm for optimum allocation of redundancies in a general system is presented. The method is applicable to problems having any number of constraints which need not be linear. For selecting the subsystem where redundancy is to be added, a heuristic criterion is introduced which takes into account the relative increment in reliability versus increments in constraints. The method is applicable for any system configuration where subsystems are composed of identical parallel elements. The algorithm is simple, requires little computation effort, and is easily programmed for a computer. An example of a nonseries system illustrates the procedure.