(Received May 24, 1990; revised May 27, 1991)
Abstract. A consecutive k-out-of-n system consists of n linearly or cyclically ordered components such that the system fails if and only if at least k consecutive components fail. In this paper we consider a maintained system where each component is repaired independently of the others according to an exponential distribution. Assuming general lifetime distributions for system's components we prove a limit theorem for the time to first failure of both linear and circular systems.
Key words and phrases: Consecutive k-out-of-n systems, reliability bounds, maintenance, time to failure, Weibull limit theorem.