Published online by Cambridge University Press: 27 July 2009
A continuum structure function (CSF) is a nondecreasing mapping from the unit hypercube to the unit interval. The Kim-Baxter definition of the reliability importance of component i in a CSF at system level α, Ri(α), say, is reviewed. Conditions under which Ri(α) is positive, under which Ri(α) is a continuous function of α, and under which Ri(α) ≥ Rj(α) uniformly in α are presented. A simple algorithm for evaluating Ri(α) is described.