Planning Life Tests Based on Progressively Type-I Grouped Censored Data from the Weibull Distribution

In this article, we apply the simulated annealing algorithm to determine optimally spaced inspection times for the two-parameter Weibull distribution for any given progressive Type-I grouped censoring plan. We examine how the asymptotic relative efficiencies of the estimates are affected by the position of the monitoring points and the number of monitoring points used. A comparison of different inspection plans is made that will enable the user to select a plan for a specified quality goal. Using the same algorithm, we can also determine an optimal progressive Type-I grouped censoring plan when the inspection times and the expected proportions of total failures in the experiment are pre-fixed. Finally, we discuss the sample size and the acceptance constant of the progressively Type-I grouped censored reliability sampling plan when the optimal inspection times are used.