Mathematical modeling and fuzzy availability analysis of skim milk powder system of a dairy plant

Conventional reliability analysis relies on the probability theory and the binary states i.e. success or failed state of a component or system only. This type of reliability analysis amplifies the uncertainty in computation of system reliability. To overcome this problem, the concept of fuzzy reliability has been used in the evaluation of reliability of the system and the binary states i.e. success and failure of a component or system is viewed in a fuzzy way. Mathematical formulation of the fault-tolerant skim milk powder system is carried out using mnemonic rule and the governing Chapman–Kolmogorov differential equations are solved with fourth order Runge–Kutta method. In this paper, the effect of failure rate, repair rate of each subsystem and coverage factor on fuzzy availability of skim milk powder system is analyzed. © 2014, The Society for Reliability Engineering, Quality and Operations Management (SREQOM), India and The Division of Operation and Maintenance, Lulea University of Technology, Sweden.