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Optimal maintenance strategies for repairable systems with general degree of repair

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  14 July 2016

Wolfgang Stadje*
Affiliation:
University of Osnabrück
Dror Zuckerman*
Affiliation:
Drexel University
*
Postal address: Fachbereich Mathematik Informatik, Universität Osnabrück, Albrechtstrasse 28, W4500 Osnabrück, Germany.
∗∗Postal address: Department of Management, College of Business, Drexel University, Philadelphia PA 19104, USA.

Abstract

In this study we examine repairable systems with random lifetime. Upon failure, a maintenance action, specifying the degree of repair, is taken by a controller. The objective is to determine an age-dependent maintenance strategy which minimizes the total expected discounted cost over an infinite planning horizon. Using several properties of the optimal policy which are derived in this study, we propose analytical and numerical methods for determining the optimal maintenance strategy. In order to obtain a better insight regarding the structure and nature of the optimal policy and to illustrate computational procedures, a numerical example is analysed. The proposed maintenance model outlines a new research channel in the area of reliability with interesting theoretical issues and a wide range of potential applications in various fields such as product design, inventory systems for spare parts, and management of maintenance crews.

Type
Research Papers
Copyright
Copyright © Applied Probability Trust 1991 

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Footnotes

Supported in part by the DFG under Grant No. 478/154/89.

Supported in part by NSF under Grant No. DDM 3013162, and by Air Force Office of Scientific Research under Grant No. 90–208.

References

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