Dynamic systems

Since the beginning of this article, we've been using the term "dynamic systems" as if it were self-evident. It is now necessary to specify a little more precisely what this term implies in our context.

A glance at the dictionary reveals :

This suits our purpose well, since we're concerned here with industrial systems whose states change over time as a function of the hazards (failures, repairs, reconfigurations, weather...) to which they are subjected.

On reflection, it might be hard to find an industrial system that isn't dynamic! A simple "repairable" component...