On the systemic entropy of low-order systems

Abstract

Reliability engineering is a well-defined field and systemic analysis is not new. Typically, the first raw-moment (MTTF) is all that is sought in applications of this method and a rule-of-thumb method achieves this algebraically without the need for calculus by assuming exponential distributions. However, there is no standard labelling or naming of the different block diagrams used, nor is there a standard list of solutions for low-order networks. In this paper different moments are compared, and the vector algebra approach is emphasised. A small amount of fine structure is evident in the moments, but broadly they are found to be equivalent for bulk system analysis. Analogy is made to statistical physics and a set of characteristic values is developed.