Limit Distribution for a Consecutive-k-out-of-n: F System

A consecutive-k-out-of-n: F system consists of n components ordered on a line. Each component, and the system as a whole, has two states: it is either functional or failed. The system will fail if and only if at least k consecutive components fail. The components are not necessarily equal and we assume that components' failures are stochastically independent. Using a result of Barbour and Eagleson (1984) we find a bound for the distance of the distribution of system's lifetime from the Weibull distribution. Subsequently, using this bound limit theorems are derived under quite general conditions.