Time-dependent intuitionistic fuzzy system reliability analysis

The purpose of the present paper is to provide a method for constructing time-dependent reliability systems based on intuitionistic fuzzy random variables. A lifetime variable cannot be precisely recorded due to machine errors, experimentation pitfalls, personal judgments, estimation errors or other unexpected sources of error. In order to satisfy the purpose of this paper, an intuitionistic fuzzy random variable with exact parameters was introduced and adopted to evaluate the reliability functions of a k-out-of-n system, with some reliability evaluation criteria discussed and interpreted. Numerical evaluations were further presented to illustrate the calculation of the system reliability criteria in the form of intuitionistic fuzzy numbers. Finally, a number of potential engineering applications of the proposed method were presented.