Replacement and imperfect repair of deteriorating system: Study of a CBM policy and impact of repair efficiency

Abstract This paper studies a condition-based predictive maintenance policy in the presence of imperfect repairs for deteriorating systems. The effect of imperfect repairs is assumed to be random in the sense that a maintenance action reduces the systems degradation level by a random proportion. The associated distribution allows characterizing the repair efficiency. As an example, the beta distribution is considered. It allows defining a wide range of repair efficiencies. A maintenance policy with an aperiodic and predictive inspection planning is considered and a new decision criterion is introduced to evaluate the extent to which a repair would be beneficial. The aim is to find a proper balance between repair and replacement for preventive action which leads to optimal maintenance cost. With this consideration, the cost model is developed from regenerative and semi-regenerative properties. The expected cost is evaluated and the optimal policy is reached as a function of repair efficiency. Finally, a numerical study is drawn up to demonstrate the implementation and highlight the potential benefits of the proposed methods. A sensitivity analysis on critical parameters is also performed.