Condition Based Maintenance Modeling for Availability Analysis of a Repairable Mechanical System

This paper deals with the condition based maintenance modeling for availability analysis of repairable mechanical systems using MARKOV analysis. Maintenance actions are selected out of four actions namely no repair, minor maintenance, imperfect maintenance and major maintenance. The various probabilities of selecting the maintenance depend upon the level of degradation. Thus system MARKOV model is developed incorporating these aspects, i.e. multi-state degradation, periodic inspection, condition based maintenance actions and random failures. The solution of the model is obtained analytically by solving system of ordinary differential equations by RangaKutta method using MATLAB software. The proposed methodology is implemented for centrifugal pump. The suggested approach helps in gauging and assessing availability and hence is useful for the engineers in enhancing the overall availability of the system. It is also helpful for maintenance engineers in deciding suitable maintenance and replacement policies. We are optimizing the condition monitoring interval to maximize the system availability.