Optimal inspection and replacement policies for multi-state deteriorating systems

✍ Scribed by Ruey Huei Yeh

• Publisher: Elsevier Science
• Year: 1997
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 674 KB
• Volume: 96
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0377-2217
• DOI: 10.1016/s0377-2217(96)00077-x

✦ Synopsis

In this paper, a phase-type approach is proposed to derive optimal inspection and replacement policies for semi-Markovian deteriorating systems. In this approach, the general sojourn time distributions of a semi-Markovian maintenance model are approximated by acyclic phase-type distributions. Using the approximation, a semi-Markovian maintenance model can be transformed into a Markovian maintenance model such that the analytical tractability of Markov processes can be preserved. Based on the Markovian model, algorithms are provided to derive the optimal state-dependent and state-age-dependent inspection and replacement policies such that the expected long-run cost rate is minimized. Furthermore, procedures are developed to implement the optimal policies on semi-Markovian deteriorating systems. The implementation of the optimal policies are illustrated by numerical examples.