Reliability of high-speed electric multiple units in terms of the expanded multi-state flow network.

• The M-LSCSFN for an HSEMU system describes system structure and functions. • The layer reliability is calculated based on MPs using specific operators. • The M-LSCSFN reliability is estimated with the layer reliability. • The HSEMU system reliability is evaluated in terms of the M-LSCSFN reliability. • A practical case is shown to demonstrate the proposed method. This paper proposes a new reliability assessment method for a high-speed electric multiple unit (HSEMU) system based on the expanded multi-state flow network. An HSEMU system is abstracted as a multi-layer multi-source multi-commodity multi-state flow network (M-LSCSFN), where minimum maintenance units (MMUs) and three types of connections form nodes and edges in different layers, and functional characteristics are regarded as network parameters. In the M-LSCSFN, multi layers describe different types of connections and their relationships; multi-source and multi-commodity reflect system features; whereas multi-state flow indicates the dynamic realization of system functions. Considering that an HSEMU system can be divided into multiple independent holistic functions, each holistic function has a corresponding sub-M-LSCSFN, and each layer of this sub-M-LSCSFN is a multi-source multi-commodity multi-state flow network (M-SCSFN). In order to assess system reliability, layer reliability (i.e. , the M-SCSFN reliability) is first defined as the probability that the amounts of each commodity transmitted successfully from source nodes to sink nodes will not be less than the required demands. A corresponding algorithm is proposed to calculate layer reliability in terms of minimal paths (MPs) using the quick inclusion-exclusion technique (QIE). The sub-M-LSCSFN reliability is subsequently calculated based on the layer reliability and the conditional relationships among different layers. Based on these, the HSEMU system reliability is defined as the ability of a system to complete specified multiple functions under stated conditions for a specified period of time, and can be evaluated using the reliability of sub-M-LSCSFNs via the proposed operator. Finally, a case study of the "Fuxing" HSEMU system is analyzed to demonstrate the applicability of the proposed method and algorithm the effectiveness of the proposed method is demonstrated in an HSEMU system reliability assessment case study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]