Effect of element separation in series-parallel systems exposed to random shocks

A new general approach to obtaining performance characteristics of complex non-repairable systems in the presence of shocks affecting individual elements and groups of elements is developed. A method of evaluating the effect of elements separation into different groups on the entire system performance is suggested. An important specific case, of the series-parallel systems exposed to internal failures and external shocks is considered. It is shown that in binary systems, separation always improves the system survivability when elements are arranged in parallel and decreases it when elements are arranged in series. A numerical example showing that the separation efficiency can depend on a system performance metric is presented.