The consecutive-k system was first studied around 1980, and it soon became a very popular subject. The reasons were many-folded, includ ing: 1. The system is simple and natural. So most people can understand it and many can do some analysis. Yet it can grow in many directions and there is no lack of new topics. 2. The system is simple enough to become a prototype for demonstrat ing various ideas related to reliability. For example, the interesting concept of component importance works best with the consecutive-k system. 3. The system is supported by many applications. Twenty years have gone and hundreds of papers have been published on the subject. This seems to be a good time for retrospect and to sort the scattered material into a book. Besides providing our own per spective, the book will also serve as an easy reference to the numerous ramifications of the subject. It is hoped that a summary of work in the current period will become the seed of future break-through."

This book is a collective work by many leading scientists, analysts, mathematicians, and engineers who have been working at the front end of reliability science and engineering. The book covers conventional and contemporary topics in reliability science, all of which have seen extended research activities in recent years. The methods presented in this book are real-world examples that demonstrate improvements in essential reliability and availability for industrial equipment such as medical magnetic resonance imaging, power systems, traction drives for a search and rescue helicopter, and air conditioning systems. The book presents real case studies of redundant multi-state air conditioning systems for chemical laboratories and covers assessments of reliability and fault tolerance and availability calculations. Conventional and contemporary topics in reliability engineering are discussed, including degradation, networks, dynamic reliability, resilience, and multi-state systems, all of which are relatively new topics to the field. The book is aimed at engineers and scientists, as well as postgraduate students involved in reliability design, analysis, experiments, and applied probability and statistics.

The consecutive-k system was first studied around 1980, and it soon became a very popular subject. The reasons were many-folded, includ ing: 1. The system is simple and natural. So most people can understand it and many can do some analysis. Yet it can grow in many directions and there is no lack of new topics. 2. The system is simple enough to become a prototype for demonstrat ing various ideas related to reliability. For example, the interesting concept of component importance works best with the consecutive-k system. 3. The system is supported by many applications. Twenty years have gone and hundreds of papers have been published on the subject. This seems to be a good time for retrospect and to sort the scattered material into a book. Besides providing our own per spective, the book will also serve as an easy reference to the numerous ramifications of the subject. It is hoped that a summary of work in the current period will become the seed of future break-through."