ABSTRACT
In most scientific applications, the reliability of a system is formally expressed as the probability that the system performs its intended objective. When systems consist only of machine or material components, mathematical methods exist for computing or estimating component or system reliability, either in terms of the probability of functioning normally each time it is used or in terms of the probability that it will not fail during some prescribed time of use (Kapur and Lamberson, 1977; Dhillon and Singh, 1981).
