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Optimal repair/replacement policy for a general repair model

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 July 2016

Xiaoyue Jiang*
Affiliation:
University of Toronto
Viliam Makis*
Affiliation:
University of Toronto
Andrew K. S. Jardine*
Affiliation:
University of Toronto
*
Postal address: Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, University of Toronto, 5 King's College Road, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M5S 3G8.
Postal address: Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, University of Toronto, 5 King's College Road, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M5S 3G8.
Postal address: Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, University of Toronto, 5 King's College Road, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M5S 3G8.

Abstract

In this paper, we study a maintenance model with general repair and two types of replacement: failure and preventive replacement. When the system fails a decision is made whether to replace or repair it. The repair degree that affects the virtual age of the system is assumed to be a random function of the repair-cost and the virtual age at failure time. The system can be preventively replaced at any time before failure. The objective is to find the repair/replacement policy minimizing the long-run expected average cost per unit time. It is shown that a generalized repair-cost-limit policy is optimal and the preventive replacement time depends on the virtual age of the system and on the length of the operating time since the last repair. Computational procedures for finding the optimal repair-cost limit and the optimal average cost are developed. This model includes many well-known models as special cases and the approach provides a unified treatment of a wide class of maintenance models.

Type
General Applied Probability
Copyright
Copyright © Applied Probability Trust 2001 

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