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A generalized-exponential decomposition method for the analysis of inhomogeneous assembly/disassembly systems with unreliable machines and finite buffers

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Abstract

This paper presents a new approximate analytical method for the performance evaluation of inhomogeneous assembly/disassembly (A/D) systems with machines subject to failures and finite buffers. Processing times of machines in these systems are deterministic but not identical. Times between failures and times to repair are both assumed to be exponentially distributed. The method developed in this paper provides a generalized approach for analyzing A/D systems. Unlike the previous work on this subject, generalized exponential distributions are adopted instead of exponential distributions to approximate the repair time distributions of the fictitious machines. As a result the proposed method can handle the situation where the orders of magnitude of machines’ reliability parameters (mean times between failures and mean times to repair) are not at the same level. A new algorithm is also developed to improve the convergence reliability and efficiency of the method. Extensive numerical experiments and simulation have been carried out to illustrate that the method proposed for A/D systems is quite accurate and efficient.

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Acknowledgments

The authors acknowledge the financial Support of the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 71071115, No. 51375290 and 51205242) and the Innovation Program of Shanghai Municipal Education Commission (No. 13YZ002).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Mechatronics Engineering and Automation, Shanghai University, No. 149 Yanchang Road, Zhabei District, Shanghai, 200072, China

    Beixin Xia

  2. Industrial Engineering Department, Tongji University, Shanghai, China

    Binghai Zhou

  3. School of Mechanical Engineering, State Key Laboratory of Mechanical System and Vibration, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China

    Ci Chen & Lifeng Xi

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  1. Beixin Xia
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  2. Binghai Zhou
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Correspondence to Beixin Xia.

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Xia, B., Zhou, B., Chen, C. et al. A generalized-exponential decomposition method for the analysis of inhomogeneous assembly/disassembly systems with unreliable machines and finite buffers. J Intell Manuf 27, 765–779 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10845-014-0912-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10845-014-0912-9

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