Heuristic algorithms for constrained redundancy optimization in complex systems based on new measures of importance

In this paper, new measures of importance in respect of minimal path sets and minimal cut sets, respectively, are defined and used to develop efficient heuristic algorithms for solving the problem of constrained redundancy optimization in complex systems. These measures take into account design reliability analysis of a system. With some examples, the effect of the proposed algorithms over other heuristic algorithms existing in the literature is discussed. Computational results show that our algorithms can be used as attractive alternatives to other heuristic algorithms, keeping in view both the solution quality and computational effort.