Assuming that component lifetimes are Rayleigh distributed, guaranteed-coverage and
expected-coverage tolerance limits are computed for minimal repair
times of series systems. In the frequentist setting, the empirical
information about the unknown Rayleigh parameter is provided by a
type-II right censored sample of component lifetimes. A Bayesian
approach for constructing tolerance limits is also proposed, which
may be viewed as a generalization of the frequentist viewpoint
since classical and Bayesian perspectives harmonize in the
noninformative case. Moreover, the accuracy of a given tolerance
limit and the number of failures needed to attain a desired
accuracy level are derived. Bayesian tolerance limits are shown to
be more accurate than the corresponding frequentist ones,
especially when prior knowledge is relevant. Optimal sample sizes
for constructing tolerance limits are determined by minimizing
appropriate cost functions. In general, the Bayesian point of view
allows the reliability engineer to shorten test duration and save
testing costs. A numerical example is presented for illustrative
and comparative purposes.