Simulation Methods for Reliability and Availability of Complex Systems

Complex systems have become ubiquitous and are essential to today’s society. The design of reliable complex systems and the determination of their availability are therefore very important tasks for managers and engineers. These tasks, however, can be extremely difficult to achieve, due to the fact that current analytical methods are often too complicated, time-consuming, inefficient, or even inappropriate, when dealing with real-life systems.

Simulation Methods for Reliability and Availability of Complex Systems discusses the use of computer simulation-based techniques and algorithms to determine reliability and availability (R&A) levels in complex systems, and to support the improvement of these levels both at the design stage and during the system operating stage. It presents current best practice in the field, as well as:

• sharing theoretical or applied models and decision support systems that make use of simulation to estimate and to improve system R&A levels;

• forecasting emerging technologies and trends in the use of computer simulation for R&A; and

• proposing hybrid approaches to the development of efficient methodologies designed to solve R&A-related problems in real-life systems.

Dealing with practical issues, Simulation Methods for Reliability and Availability of Complex Systems is designed to support managers and system engineers in the improvement of R&A, as well as providing a thorough exploration of the techniques and algorithms available for researchers, and for advanced undergraduate and postgraduate students.

Javier Faulin is associate professor of statistics and operations research at the Public University of Navarra, Navarra, Spain. He is also a mentor and professor of operations research for the Spanish Open University (UNED), Madrid, Spain.

Dr Faulin has been a visiting professor at the University of Sabana, Bogotá, Colombia, and the University of Montreal, Montreal, Canada, and a visiting scholar at the University of Cincinnati, Ohio, USA, and University College of Business, Dublin, Ireland. He also spent three years at the University of Surrey, Guildford, UK, as associate lecturer in decision making in business, and in 2007 and 2008 was a professeur invité at the Université de Rennes, Rennes, France.

Angel A. Juan is an associate professor of simulation and data analysis at the Open University of Catalonia. He is also a lecturer of statistics at the Technical University of Catalonia.

Dr Juan has also been a teacher of mathematics and statistics at Elian's Boston School, Boston, USA; an assistant professor of mathematics at the University of Alicante, Alicante, Spain; a teacher of mathematics and computer science for the Catalan government's Department of Education; assistant professor of applied statistics, simulation of computer networks and mathematics at the Open University of Catalonia, Barcelona, Spain; and a teacher of programming languages, computer networks and database management systems for the Catalan government's Department of Education.

Sebastián Martorell is associate professor in nuclear engineering and director of the Department of Chemical and Nuclear Engineering at the Universidad Politécnica de Valencia, from which he also received his MSc and PhD.

Dr Martorell is vice-chairman of the European Safety and Reliability Association (ESRA). He is also a member of the editorial board of the European Journal of Industrial Engineering.

Jose Emmanuel Ramirez-Marquez is assistant professor at the Stevens Institute of Technology, Hoboken, USA. He is also director of the Quality Control and Reliability Engineering Division Board for the Institute of Industrial Engineers.

Prior to receiving his PhD in 2004, Dr Ramirez-Marquez was an area officer for the Secretaria de Hacienda y Credito Publico Servicio de Administracion Tributaria, Ciudad de Mexico, Mexico, and a graduate assistant at Rutgers, New Brunswick, USA.