Reliability modelling and analysis of a two unit continuous casting plant

• Published in: Journal of the Franklin Institute Vol. 348; no. 7; pp. 1488 - 1505
• Main Authors: Mathew, A.G., Rizwan, S.M., Majumder, M.C., Ramachandran, K.P.
• Format: Journal Article Conference Proceeding
• Language: English
• Published: Kidlington Elsevier Ltd 01.09.2011; Elsevier
• Subjects: Applied sciences; Continuous casting; Continuous casting plant (CC plant); Exact sciences and technology; Failure; Foundry engineering; Fracture mechanics (crack, fatigue, damage...); Fundamental areas of phenomenology (including applications); Iron and steel plants; Maintenance; Mathematical models; Metals. Metallurgy; Operational research and scientific management; Operational research. Management science; Other casting methods. Solidification; Physics; Production techniques; Reconditioning; Regenerative process; Reliability; Reliability theory. Replacement problems; Repair; Repairing; Semi-Markov process; Solid mechanics; Structural and continuum mechanics; Tasks; Continuous casting plant (CC plant); Semi-Markov process; Reliability; Regenerative process; Repair; Failure; Markov process; Rupture; Continuous casting machine; Mean time to failure; Continuous casting; Metallurgical industry; Replacement; Maintenance; Failures; Modeling; Busy period; Point process; Profit; Occupation time; Operating system
• ISSN: 0016-0032; 1879-2693
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jfranklin.2010.04.016

The aim of this paper is to present a reliability modeling and analysis of a two-unit system of a continuous casting (CC) plant. Real maintenance data of a steel production plant have been used for the purpose. Three types of failures were noted: repairable, replaceable and reconditioning/reinstallation. The two-unit system is operating in parallel, on full-reduced installed capacity. Upon the unit failure, an inspection is carried out to decide the type of maintenance task to be performed. Optimized reliability indices of the plant such as mean time to system failure, availability, expected busy periods of the repairman for various maintenance tasks, expected number of visits by the repairman, expected number of repairs, replacements and reconditioning/reinstallation are obtained. Semi-Markov processes and regenerative point techniques are used for the analysis. Profit incurred to the CC plant is also evaluated and related graphs are plotted to demonstrate the results.