Search Results (24)

Modern reliability experiments frequently face operational constraints that require balancing test duration, precision, and removal strategies, rendering classical censoring schemes inadequate for contemporary multidisciplinary applications. This study introduces a novel multi-progressive generalized Type-II censoring (MP-GC-T2) framework that unifies and extends existing progressive and generalized censoring structures through the integration of staged failure-proportion controls, dual temporal termination thresholds, and adaptive withdrawal of surviving units. The proposed mechanism provides enhanced flexibility in experiment design while retaining analytical tractability for statistical inference. Assuming Weibull lifetimes, we develop a complete inferential framework including maximum likelihood estimation, asymptotic interval construction, and Bayesian estimation via hybrid Metropolis–Hastings–Gibbs sampling with informative gamma priors, together with multiple interval estimation strategies for reliability characteristics. Extensive Monte Carlo investigations assess estimator bias, precision, coverage behaviour, and interval efficiency across diverse censoring configurations, demonstrating robustness and inferential gains relative to conventional schemes. Furthermore, optimal progressive-removal planning criteria are explored to guide practitioners in selecting censoring patterns that maximize inferential accuracy under practical constraints. The versatility and practical relevance of the MP-GC-T2 design are illustrated through applications to heterogeneous real datasets arising from clinical, chemical, geological, physical, and petroleum sciences, confirming its adaptability to distinct reliability structures and data-generation mechanisms. Collectively, the proposed methodology contributes a unified experimental and inferential platform that advances censoring design, reliability estimation, and cross-disciplinary statistical modelling. Full article

The very flexible Weibull (VF-W) distribution is formulated by expressing its cumulative risk function as a logarithmic composite of auxiliary cumulative risks, making the model particularly well-suited for modeling heterogeneous life behaviors. This model admits a remarkably flexible hazard structure, capable of generating monotone increasing, unimodal (increase-then-decrease), and multi-turning-point shapes, thereby capturing complex failure behaviors far beyond those allowed by the classical Weibull distribution. This paper presents a comprehensive inferential study of the VF-W model through the unified progressive hybrid (UPH) censoring framework for modeling shock-type lifetime data. The UPH scheme integrates the advantages of Type-II, generalized hybrid, and progressive hybrid censoring mechanisms into a unified structure that ensures efficiency and adaptability in reliability testing. Classical inference is developed through maximum likelihood estimation with asymptotic interval construction, while Bayesian inference is performed using independent gamma priors and a Markov iterative algorithm. Extensive Monte Carlo experiments are conducted to evaluate the finite-sample performance of both approaches under various censoring intensities, revealing that the Bayesian MCMC-based estimators and their highest posterior density intervals provide superior precision, coverage, and robustness. The proposed VF-W model using UPH-based strategy is further validated through the analysis of a real shocks dataset, where it demonstrates a comparative performance improvement over existing models. The VF-W model exhibits stable parameter estimation under diverse censoring levels, indicating robustness in incomplete-data scenarios. Furthermore, the model maintains analytical tractability, offering closed-form expressions for key reliability measures, which facilitates practical implementation in different scenarios. The results confirm the VFW model’s strong potential as a unifying and computationally stable tool for reliability modeling, particularly in complex engineering and physical systems operating under stochastic shock environments. Full article

A novel unified progressive hybrid censoring is introduced to combine both progressive and hybrid censoring plans to allow flexible test termination either after a prespecified number of failures or at a fixed time. This work develops both frequentist and Bayesian inferential procedures for estimating the parameters, reliability, and hazard rates of the inverted Nadarajah–Haghighi lifespan model when a sample is produced from such a censoring plan. Maximum likelihood estimators are obtained through the Newton–Raphson iterative technique. The delta method, based on the Fisher information matrix, is utilized to build the asymptotic confidence intervals for each unknown quantity. In the Bayesian methodology, Markov chain Monte Carlo techniques with independent gamma priors are implemented to generate posterior summaries and credible intervals, addressing computational intractability through the Metropolis—Hastings algorithm. Extensive Monte Carlo simulations compare the efficiency and utility of frequentist and Bayesian estimates across multiple censoring designs, highlighting the superiority of Bayesian inference using informative prior information. Two real-world applications utilizing rare minerals from gold and diamond durability studies are examined to demonstrate the adaptability of the proposed estimators to the analysis of rare events in precious materials science. By applying four different optimality criteria to multiple competing plans, an analysis of various progressive censoring strategies that yield the best performance is conducted. The proposed censoring framework is effectively applied to real-world datasets involving diamonds and gold, demonstrating its practical utility in modeling the reliability and failure behavior of rare and high-value minerals. Full article

The estimation of unknown model parameters and reliability characteristics is considered under a block adaptive progressive hybrid censoring scheme, where data are observed from a Weibull model. This censoring scheme enhances experimental efficiency by conducting experiments across different testing facilities. Point and interval estimates for parameters and reliability assessments are derived using both classical and Bayesian approaches. The existence and uniqueness of maximum likelihood estimates are established. Consequently, reliability performance and differences across different testing facilities are analyzed. In addition, a Metropolis–Hastings sampling algorithm is developed to approximate complex posterior computations. Approximate confidence intervals and highest posterior density credible intervals are obtained for the parametric functions. The performance of all estimators is evaluated through an extensive simulation study, and observations are discussed. A cancer dataset is analyzed to illustrate the findings under the block adaptive censoring scheme. Full article

Recently, there has been a lot of interest in comparative life testing for items under jointly censored schemes for products from multiple production lines. The inverse Weibull distribution (IWD) is commonly used in life testing and reliability theory. In this paper, we address the problem of statistical inference from comparative inverse Weibull distributions under joint samples. An adaptive type-II hybrid progressive censoring scheme (HPCS) is used to save the balance between the ideal test time and the number of observed failures. Under the adaptive type-II HPCS, unknown parameters of the inverse Weibull populations are estimated using both maximum likelihood and Bayesian approaches. Asymptotic confidence intervals are established using the observed Fisher information matrix and bootstrap confidence intervals. We suggest using Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) techniques to compute credible intervals under independent gamma priors. Using Monte Carlo simulations, all theoretical conclusions are tested and contrasted. For illustration purposes, an actual sample from comparative populations is analysed. Full article

This paper is an attempt to study the Xgamma–Weibull distribution using an adaptive progressive type-II censoring plan. This scheme effectively ensures that the experimental time does not exceed a predetermined time limit. Using two classical estimation methods—namely, maximum likelihood and maximum product of spacing—both point and interval estimations for the unknown model parameters, as well as some parameters of life—namely, reliability and hazard rate functions—were obtained. The asymptotic normality of both classical methods was used to determine the approximate confidence intervals for the various parameters. Based on the two conventional methodologies, Bayesian estimations were also investigated using the MCMC technique under the squared error loss function. In addition, the credible intervals of the different parameters were also obtained. To compare the performance of the various approaches, a thorough simulation study was carried out. Furthermore, we propose using several optimality criteria to select the best sampling technique. Finally, two real-world datasets were used to demonstrate how the suggested estimators and optimality criteria operate in real-world circumstances. Full article

A new two-parameter weighted-exponential (WE) distribution, as a beneficial competitor model to other lifetime distributions, namely: generalized exponential, gamma, and Weibull distributions, is studied in the presence of adaptive progressive Type-II hybrid data. Thus, based on different frequentist and Bayesian estimation methods, we study the inferential problem of the WE parameters as well as related reliability indices, including survival and failure functions. In frequentist setups, besides the standard likelihood-based estimation, the product of spacing (PS) approach is also taken into account for estimating all unknown parameters of life. Making use of the delta method and the observed Fisher information of the frequentist estimators, approximated asymptotic confidence intervals for all unknown parameters are acquired. In Bayes methodology, from the squared-error loss with independent gamma density priors, the point and interval estimates of the unknown parameters are offered using both joint likelihood and the product of spacings functions. Because a closed solution to the Bayes estimators is not accessible, the Metropolis–Hastings sampler is presented to approximate the Bayes estimates and also to create their associated highest interval posterior density estimates. To figure out the effectiveness of the developed approaches, extensive Monte Carlo experiments are implemented. To highlight the applicability of the offered methodologies in practice, one real-life data set consisting of 30 failure times of repairable mechanical equipment is analyzed. This application demonstrated that the offered WE model provides a better fit compared to the other eight lifetime models. Full article

A new two-parameter statistical model, obtained by compounding the generalized-exponential and exponential distributions, called the PRC lifetime model, is explored in this paper. This model can be easily linked to other well-known six-lifetime models; namely the exponential, log-logistic, Burr, Pareto and generalized Pareto models. Adaptive progressively hybrid Type-II censored strategy, used to increase the efficiency of statistical inferential results and save the total duration of a test, has become widely used in various sectors such as medicine, biology, engineering, etc. Via maximum likelihood and Bayes inferential methodologies, given the presence of such censored data, the challenge of estimating the unknown parameters and some reliability time features, such as reliability and failure rate functions, of the PRC model is examined. The Markov-Chain Monte Carlo sampler, when the model parameters are assumed to have independent gamma density priors, is utilized to produce the Bayes’ infer under the symmetric (squared-error) loss of all unknown subjects. Asymptotic confidence intervals as well as the highest posterior density intervals of the unknown parameters and the unknown reliability indices are also created. An extensive Monte Carlo simulation is implemented to investigate the accuracy of the acquired point and interval estimators. Four various optimality criteria, to select the best progressive censored design, are used. To demonstrate the applicability and feasibility of the proposed model in a real-world scenario, two data sets from the engineering sector; one based on industrial devices and the other on aircraft windshield, are analyzed. Numerical evaluations showed that the PRC model furnishes a superior fit compared to seven other models in the literature, including: alpha-power exponential, log-logistic, Nadarajah–Haghighi, generalized-exponential, Weibull, gamma and exponential lifetime distributions. The findings demonstrate that, in order to obtain the necessary estimators, the Bayes’ paradigm via Metropolis–Hastings sampler is recommended compared to its competitive likelihood approach. Full article

A new two-parameter extended exponential lifetime distribution with an increasing failure rate called the Poisson–exponential (PE) model was explored. In the reliability experiments, an adaptive progressively Type-II hybrid censoring strategy is presented to improve the statistical analysis efficiency and reduce the entire test duration on a life-testing experiment. To benefit from this mechanism, this paper sought to infer the unknown parameters, as well as the reliability and failure rate function of the PE distribution using both the likelihood and product of spacings estimation procedures as a conventional view. For each unknown parameter, from both classical approaches, an approximate confidence interval based on Fisher’s information was also created. Additionally, in the Bayesian paradigm, the given classical approaches were extended to Bayes’ continuous theorem to develop the Bayes (or credible interval) estimates of the same unknown quantities. Employing the squared error loss, the Bayesian inference was developed based on independent gamma assumptions. Because of the complex nature of the posterior density, the Markov chain with the Monte Carlo methodology was used to obtain data from the whole conditional distributions and, therefore, evaluate the acquired Bayes point/interval estimates. Via extensive numerical comparisons, the performance of the estimates provided was evaluated with respect to various criteria. Among different competing progressive mechanisms, using four optimality criteria, the best censoring was suggested. Two real chemical engineering datasets were also analyzed to highlight the applicability of the acquired point and interval estimators in an actual practical scenario. Full article

This paper deals with the statistical inference of the unknown parameter and some life parameters of inverse Lindley distribution under the assumption that the data are adaptive Type-II progressively censored. The maximum likelihood method is considered to acquire the point and interval estimates of the distribution parameter, reliability, and hazard rate functions. The approximate confidence intervals are also addressed. The delta method is taken into consideration to approximate the variances of the estimators of the reliability and hazard rate functions to get the required intervals. Based on the assumption of gamma prior, we further consider Bayesian estimation of the different parameters. The Bayes estimates are obtained by considering squared error and general entropy loss functions. The Bayes estimates and highest posterior density credible intervals are obtained by employing the Markov chain Monte Carlo procedure. An exhaustive numerical study is conducted to compare the offered estimates with regard to their root means squared error, relative absolute biases, confidence lengths, and coverage probabilities. To explain the suggested methods, two applications are investigated. The numerical findings show that the Bayes estimates perform better than those obtained based on the maximum likelihood method. The Bayesian estimations using the asymmetric loss function give more efficient estimates than the symmetric loss. Finally, the inverse Lindley distribution is recommended to be used as a suitable model to fit airborne communication transceiver and wooden toys data sets when compared with some competitive models including inverse Weibull, inverse gamma and alpha power inverted exponential. Full article

The inverse Weibull distribution (IWD) can be applied to a various situations, including applications in reliability and medicine. In a reliability and medicine test, it is generally known that the results of test units may not be recorded. Recently, the generalized adaptive progressive hybrid censoring (GAPHC) scheme was introduced. In this paper, therefore, we consider the classical estimators (maximum likelihood estimator (MLE) and maximum product spacings estimator (MPSE)) and Bayes estimators (BayEsts) of the uncertainty measure of the IWD under GAPHC scheme. We derive the BayEsts of the uncertainty measure based on flexible (symmetrical and asymmetrical) priors. Additionally, we derive the Bayes estimators using the Tierney and Kadane approximation (TiKa) and importance sampling methods. In particular, the importance sampling method is used to obtain the credible interval for the uncertainty measure of the IWD under the GAPHC scheme. To compare the proposed estimators (classical and BayEsts), the Monte Carlo simulation method is conducted. Finally, the real dataset based on GAPHC scheme is analyzed. Full article

Accelerated life tests are used to explore the lifetime of extremely reliable items by subjecting them to elevated stress levels from stressors to cause early failures, such as temperature, voltage, pressure, and so on. The alpha power inverse Weibull (APIW) distribution is of great significance and practical applications due to its appealing characteristics, such as its flexibilities in the probability density function and the hazard rate function. We analyze the step stress partially accelerated life testing model with samples from the APIW distribution under adaptive type II progressively hybrid censoring. We first obtain the maximum likelihood estimates and two types of approximate confidence intervals of the distributional parameters and then derive Bayes estimates of the unknown parameters under different loss functions. Furthermore, we analyze three probable optimum test techniques for identifying the best censoring under different optimality criteria methods. We conduct simulation studies to assess the finite sample performance of the proposed methodology. Finally, we provide a real data example to further demonstrate the proposed technique. Full article

In life testing and reliability studies, obtaining whole data always takes a long time and lots of monetary and human resources. In this case, the experimenters prefer to gather data using censoring schemes that make a balance between the length of the test, the desired sample size, and the cost. Lately, an adaptive progressive type-II hybrid censoring scheme is suggested to enhance the efficiency of the statistical inference. By utilizing this scheme, this paper seeks to investigate classical and Bayesian estimations of the Dagum distribution. The maximum likelihood and Bayesian estimation methods are considered to estimate the distribution parameters and some reliability indices. The Bayesian estimation is developed under the assumption of independent gamma priors and by employing symmetric and asymmetric loss functions. Due to the tough form of the joint posterior distribution, the Markov chain Monte Carlo technique is implemented to gather samples from the full conditional distributions and in turn obtain the Bayes estimates. The approximate confidence intervals and the highest posterior density credible intervals are also obtained. The effectiveness of the various suggested methods is compared through a simulated study. The optimal progressive censoring plans are also shown, and number of optimality criteria are explored. To demonstrate the applicability of the suggested point and interval estimators, two real data sets are also examined. The outcomes of the simulation study and data analysis demonstrated that the proposed scheme is adaptable and very helpful in ending the experiment when the experimenter’s primary concern is the number of failures. Full article

This study aims to investigate the estimation problems when the parent distribution of the population under consideration is the Nadarajah–Haghighi distribution in the presence of an adaptive progressive Type-II hybrid censoring scheme. Two approaches are considered in this regard, namely, the maximum likelihood and Bayesian estimation methods. From the classical point of view, the maximum likelihood estimates of the unknown parameters, reliability, and hazard rate functions are obtained as well as the associated approximate confidence intervals. On the other hand, the Bayes estimates are obtained based on symmetric and asymmetric loss functions. The Bayes point estimates and the highest posterior density Bayes credible intervals are computed using the Monte Carlo Markov Chain technique. A comprehensive simulation study is implemented by proposing different scenarios for sample sizes and progressive censoring schemes. Moreover, two applications are considered by analyzing two real data sets. The outcomes of the numerical investigations show that the Bayes estimates using the general entropy loss function are preferred over the other methods. Full article

This work addresses the estimation issues of the XLindley distribution using an adaptive Type-II progressive hybrid censoring scheme. Maximum likelihood and Bayesian approaches are used to estimate the unknown parameter, reliability, and hazard rate functions. Bayesian estimators are explored under the assumption of independent gamma priors and a symmetric loss function. The approximate confidence intervals and the highest posterior density credible intervals are also computed. An extensive simulation study that takes into account various sample sizes and censoring schemes is implemented to evaluate the various estimating methods. Finally, for an explanation, two real data sets from the chemical engineering field are provided to show that the XLindley distribution is the best model compared to some competitive models for the same real data. The Bayesian paradigm utilizing the Metropolis–Hastings algorithm to generate samples from the posterior distribution is recommended to estimate any parameter of life of the XLindley distribution when data are obtained from adaptive Type-II progressively hybrid censored sample. Full article