摘要
A machine, or other type of 'system' , can often be divided into several subsystems (components)and these subsystems again can be divided into sevreral subsystems (second generation). This process forms a system tree. To assess the reliability of the machine based on data from the trials of components of the machine, virtual system method is employed. It is proved in the paper that the lower confident limit of the reliability of the machine set by the virtual system method is level consistent and asymptotically optimal while the one set by Lindstrom-Maddens method is not.
