SOLUTION OF A SIMPLE OVERHAUL PROBLEM

Abstract : A method is developed for solving a simple overhaul problem. The system is composed of two subsystems, one of which fails randomly (constant conditional probability of failure) while the other fails according to an aging distribution (increasing conditional probability of failure). Both subsystems are inspected periodically. The system is automatically returned to the depot whenever a failure of either subsystem is detected. Given a failure, a method is presented for determining the replacement and repair actions which should constitute an overhaul. The method also indicates the age at which an unfailed system should be overhauled. The method is designed to maximize system effectiveness, where effectiveness is the ratio of expected good time during a cycle to the imputed cycle length. The imputed cycle length explicitly measures both the downtime and financial costs of the various overhaul actions. (Author)