Abstract
In the reliability studies, k-out-of-n systems play an important role. In this paper, we consider sharp bounds for the mean residual life function of a k-out-of-n system consisting of n identical components with independent lifetimes having a common distribution function F, measured in location and scale units of the residual life random variable X (t) = (X-t|X > t). We characterize the probability distributions for which the bounds are attained. We also evaluate the so obtained bounds numerically for various choices of k and n.