Preventive maintenance of multi-state system with phase-type failure time distribution and non-zero inspection time

Preventive maintenance is applied to improve the system availability or decrease the operational cost. This paper addresses the optimal preventive maintenance problem for multi-state deteriorating systems, where the system experiences multiple stages of performance degradation before it fails. We consider a general case where the inspection and repair time are generally distributed. The threshold type maintenance policy is employed for preventive minor maintenance and preventive major maintenance, where minor or major maintenance is carried out when the system deterioration stage is found to be larger than certain thresholds. The mathematical model of the system is set up by means of a Markov regenerative process (MRGP). With this formulation, the system steady-state probabilities under consideration are computed.

Duke Scholars

Author Kishor S. Trivedi Electrical and Computer Engineering