Computation of survival signatures for multi-state consecutive-k systems

In this paper, the survival signature is introduced in a matrix form for a multi-state coherent system with multi-state components and then some related properties are discussed. Using the finite Markov chain imbedding approach and the relationship between survival signatures and state distributions, a computational method for survival signatures is proposed for multi-state consecutive type systems. Some illustrative examples are also presented to demonstrate how survival signatures are calculated by this method and as to how they are applied.