Failure Probability of Strict Consecutive-k-out-of-n:F Systems

A system with n components in sequence is a strict consecutive-k-out-of-n:F system if and only if it fails when at least k consecutive components are failed, but isolated strings of component failures of length less than k do not occur. This paper gives the failure probability function of a strict linear consecutive-k-out-of-n:F system in a closed form. The calculation of the failure probability of a strict circular consecutive-k-out-of-n:F system is reduced to the linear case.