Maintenance policy on a finite time span for a gradually deteriorating system with imperfect improvements
Abstract
The study deals with a gradually deteriorating system such as a large structure. This system is studied over a finite time span where the finite horizon can be seen, for example, as an insurance deadline which requires a specific maintenance policy. Maintenance actions are assumed to be imperfect in this work. An improvement function is used to model the impact of the maintenance on the degradation level of the system. The improvement function is based in the virtual age model ARA1. A maintenance policy is then proposed in which maintenance actions are systematically performed at given maintenance dates, if the system has not already failed. It is assumed that in the event of a failure the system is not repaired. The system is then unavailable until the finite horizon. The proposed maintenance policy is assessed on the finite time span, and both maintenance dates and the number of maintenance actions are optimized.