Department of Statistics, UCLA

In reliability theory, there is a considerable literature on the satistical theory of the strength of a bundle of n parallel filaments or fibres. Suppose that a bundle is clamped at each end and elongated by increasing the distance between the clamps, the problem is to determine the probalistic characteristic of the maximum tensile load that the bundle will sustain in terms of the probalistic and mechanical characteristics of the individual fibre and the clamping mechanism.