Method of justification of the requirements for metrological support of repair of objects with variable structure

A new method of justification of the requirements for measuring equipment (ME) is proposed. For the first time, the method accounts for the potential variability of the product structure during its intended use, and thus, allows minimizing the requirements concerning the probability of estimating the values of diagnostic parameters of the product during its current repair (CR), thereby reducing the cost of ME. In addition, partial (in particular, time between failures and average recovery time) and multi-component (in particular, the readiness/non-readiness factors) values of the reliability indices are quantitatively estimated and which meet the requirements. The task is solved algorithmically using the approaches of technical diagnostics and metrology. Based on the prescribed requirements for the reliability indices of the product, the justified ME for CR is selected. To achieve the goal, recent advances in modelling the reliability of large-scale facilities and systems with variable structure, as well as metrology methods for assessing the impact of the reliability of the ME on the value of the average recovery time of multimode facilities during their CR are involved. To our best knowledge, the application of these possibilities has not been reported yet. The paper formalizes the procedure for applying the obtained results in the form of an algorithm, which allows increasing the efficiency of the method, benefiting from its advantages. The application of the proposed method is illustrated for a piece of real communication equipment, namely a subsystem controlling the functioning of a high-power radio transmitter. It is demonstrated that, based on the requirements stated in the guidance documents regarding the value of the average recovery time of an object with variable structure, the selection of metrological characteristics and type of ME can be justified. Alternatively, the problem can be solved based on the given value of the reliability index of a multicomponent product, the so-called readiness factor. An example of assessing the efficiency by the proposed method is presented. The proposed method is recommended for the development of metrological support for CR of prospective radio-electronic tools with variable structure.