Reliability Modeling of PMUs Using Fuzzy Sets

Probabilistic analyses of a wide-area measurement system (WAMS) would require equivalent reliability models for its components which include phasor measurement units (PMUs). In this paper, the reliability modeling of PMU is proposed and the proposed model is extended to consider options for the PMU hardware. The Markov process is employed to analyze the proposed model and to present an equivalent two-state model of PMUs. Reliability parameters of PMU are estimated with major difficulties associated with limited and uncertain data. In this paper, uncertainties are taken into account to achieve more realistic estimates of PMU characteristics. Fuzzy sets along with reliability analyses and fuzzy importance measures (FIMs) are utilized as a means of measuring the significance of PMU components on its availability. Numerical analyses are conducted and results are discussed.