Total repair cost limit replacement policies: analyses and comparisons

Abstract

Maintenance of technical systems aims at retaining their reliability and availability, restoring their capability of continuing their operation in case they have failed. A number of reliability and maintenance policies that play a significant role in reducing system failures and in making cost-effective decisions on whether to repair or replace a system will be examined in great detail. This research report places greater emphasis on the total repair cost (TRC) limit policy and compares it with other polices like the economic lifetime (EL) policy. The maintenance cost rate will be used to obtain the optimal parameters. When a system fails, it is replaced with an identical unused one if the total repair cost goes beyond a pre-determined repair cost limit by a preventive replacement if in the time period (0, v) no failure forces a replacement of the system. Else, a repair is carried out.