Modeling age-based maintenance strategies with minimal repairs for systems subject to competing failure modes due to degradation and shocks

• Published in: European journal of operational research Vol. 218; no. 1; pp. 140 - 151
• Main Authors: Huynh, K.T., Castro, I.T., Barros, A., Bérenguer, C.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Amsterdam Elsevier B.V 01.04.2012; Elsevier; Elsevier Sequoia S.A
• Subjects: Age replacement policy; Applied sciences; Degradation; Dynamic environment; Engineering Sciences; Exact sciences and technology; Gamma process; Maintenance; Maintenance costs; Mathematical models; Mathematics; Minimal repairs; Non-homogeneous Poisson process; Operational research and scientific management; Operational research. Management science; Optimization; Optimization techniques; Other; Policies; Probability; Quantitative Finance; Queuing theory. Traffic theory; Random inspection; Reliability theory. Replacement problems; Repair & maintenance; Repairing; Risk Management; Strategy; Studies; Gamma process; Non-homogeneous Poisson process; Random inspection; Age replacement policy; Minimal repairs; Dynamic environment; Replacement problem; Ageing; Optimal policy; Maintenance cost; Homogeneous process; Failures; Modeling; Poisson process; Gamma distribution; System maintenance; Dependence; Repair; Repairable system; Age; Cost lowering; random inspection; age replacement policy; non-homogeneous Poisson process; minimal repairs; dynamic environment
• ISSN: 0377-2217; 1872-6860
• DOI: 10.1016/j.ejor.2011.10.025

► Develop a Degradation-Threshold-Shock model with dependent failure modes. ► Propose the maintenance policies with time-based and condition-based minimal repair. ► Develop the mathematical cost models of these maintenance policies. ► Compare and discuss the performances of each minimal repair approach. This paper deals with maintenance strategies with minimal repairs for single-unit repairable systems which are subject to competing and dependent failures due to degradation and traumatic shocks. The main aims are to study different approaches for making a minimal repair decision (i.e., time-based or condition-based) which is a possible corrective maintenance action under the occurrence of shocks, and to show under a given situation which approach can lead to a greater saving in maintenance cost. Two age-based maintenance policies with age-based minimal repairs and degradation-based minimal repairs are modeled, and their performance is compared with a classical pure age-based replacement policy without minimal repairs. Numerical results show the cost saving of the maintenance policies and allow us to make some conclusions about their performance under different situations of system characteristic and maintenance costs. It is shown that carrying out minimal repairs is useful in many situations to improve the performance of maintenance operations. Moreover, the comparison of optimal maintenance costs incurred by both maintenance policies with minimal repairs allows us to justify the appropriate conditions of time-based minimal repair approach and condition-based minimal approach.