Maintenance Optimization Model with Sequential Inspection Based on Real-Time Reliability Evaluation for Long-Term Storage Systems

Abstract

For long-term storage systems such as rockets and missiles, most of the relevant models and algorithms for inspection and maintenance currently focus on analysis based on periodic inspection. However, considering factors such as the complexity of the degradation mechanisms of these systems, the constraints imposed by failure risk, and the uncertainty caused by environmental factors, it is preferable to dynamically determine the inspection intervals based on real-time status information. This paper investigates the issue of maintenance optimization modelling for long-term storage systems based on real-time reliability evaluation. First, the Wiener process is used to establish a performance degradation model for one critical unit of such a system, and a closed-form expression for the real-time reliability distribution is obtained by using the first-hitting-time theory. Second, sequential inspection intervals are dynamically determined by combining the real-time reliability function with a real-time reliability threshold for the system. Third, a maintenance optimization model is established for the critical unit based on update process theory. An analytical expression for the expected total cost rate is derived, and then, the real-time reliability threshold and the preventive maintenance threshold for the unit are jointly optimized by means of Monte Carlo simulation, with the lowest expected total cost rate as the optimization goal. Finally, two examples of a gyroscope and an alloy blade that are commonly used in the long-term storage systems are considered, and the validity of the proposed model is illustrated by means of a sensitivity analysis of the relevant parameters.