Improved reliability estimates for samples containing suspensions

A method is presented for obtaining better estimates of reliability levels used in Weibull analysis and related techniques. The method, which is applicable when there are suspended items, overcomes an inherent pessimism which occurs in existing plotting‐based methods, and provides reliability estimates which are continuously sensitive to any changes in the ages of suspended items. Together, these features provide a more realistic estimate of the reliability function than the existing methods provide, particularly in samples with a small number of failures.