An optimal repeat inspection plan with several classifications

Multicharacteristic critical components exist in many systems. Such components could be a part of an aircraft, space shuttle or a gas ignition system. A component is critical if it causes disaster or a very high cost upon failure. In this paper, a new inspection plan for critical multicharacteristic components is presented. A mathematical model that depicts the plan is developed. An algorithm is proposed for finding the optimal number of repeat inspections and the sequence of characteristics for inspection that minimizes expected total cost per accepted component. The expected cost consists of the cost of inspection and the cost of misclassifications. The inspection plan and the model developed generalize existing models in the literature and provide a more realistic formulation. An example is given to demonstrate the plan and the model.     

Cost effective scheduling of imperfect inspections in systems with hidden failures and rescue possibility

Motivated by real-world critical applications such as aircraft, medical devices, and military systems, this paper models non-repairable systems subject to a delay-time failure process involving hidden and fatal failures in two stages during their missions. A hidden failure cannot cause the system to stop functioning while a fatal failure causes the entire system loss. The system undergoes scheduled inspections for detecting the hidden failure. In the case of a positive inspection result, the system main mission is aborted and a rescue operation is started to mitigate the risk of the entire system loss. The inspections are imperfect and may produce false positive and negative failures. We propose probabilistic models for evaluating performance metrics of the system considered, including mission success probability, system survival probability, expected number of inspections during the mission, and total expected losses. Based on the evaluation models, we formulate and solve an optimization problem of finding the optimal inspection schedule on a fixed mission time horizon to minimize the total expected loss. Examples are provided to demonstrate the proposed methodology and effects of key system parameters on system performance and optimization solutions.     

Optimal inspection of a complex system subject to periodic and opportunistic inspections and preventive replacements

This paper proposes two optimization models for the periodic inspection of a system with “hard-type” and “soft-type” components. Given that the failures of hard-type components are self-announcing, the component is instantly repaired or replaced, but the failures of soft-type components can only be detected at inspections. A system can operate with a soft failure, but its performance may be reduced. Although a system may be periodically inspected, a hard failure creates an opportunity for additional inspection (opportunistic inspection) of all soft-type components. Two optimization models are discussed in the paper. In the first, soft-type components undergo both periodic and opportunistic inspections to detect possible failures. In the second, hard-type components undergo periodic inspections and are preventively replaced depending on their condition at inspection. Soft-type and hard-type components are either minimally repaired or replaced when they fail. Minimal repair or replacement depends on the state of a component at failure; this, in turn, depends on its age. The paper formulates objective functions for the two models and derives recursive equations for their required expected values. It develops a simulation algorithm to calculate these expected values for a complex model. Several examples are used to illustrate the models and the calculations. The data used in the examples are adapted from a real case study of a hospital’s maintenance data for a general infusion pump.     

Optimum inspection under competing risks with proportional hazards

In this work, we present an inspection policy so as to detect the failures of a single‐unit system subject to N latent causes of failure when the time and cause of failure are independent. It is supposed that inspections may fail and give an erroneous result. The optimum inspection time which minimizes cost per unit of time for an infinite time span is discussed. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Optimum preventive maintenance policies maximizing the mean time to the first system failure for a two-unit standby redundant system

A two-unit standby redundant system with repair and preventive maintenance is considered under the following assumptions: (I) the inspection of an operative unit is made only if the other unit is in standby; and (II) an operative unit, which forfeited inspection due to assumption (I), undergoes inspection just upon repair completion of the failed unit (or inspection completion). We derive the Laplace-Stieltjes transform of the cumulative distribution function of the time to the first system failure and the mean time to the first system failure. Further, we obtain the necessary and sufficient conditions for an optimum preventive maintenance policy to exist with respect to the mean time to the first system failure. More importantly, under certain conditions, we find the analytical form of an optimum inspection time maximizing the mean time to the first system failure. A numerical example is presented.The work reported in this article was supported by the National Institutes of Health under Grant No. GM-16197-05. The authors would like to express their appreciation to Professor D. L. Jaquette and Professor R. Vasudevan, University of Southern California, for their advice and encouragement.     

Control limit policies for early detection of failure

This paper considers a class of Markov Decision problems subjects to partial observation. We develop a methodology for early detection of failure of systems that do not display symptoms of failure. We assume that the inspections used for detection are error prone and there is a fixed probability of not detecting the failure. The problem is studied as a non-stationary, finite horizon Markovian Decision Process with two states. We demonstrate that the optimal policy has a two region structure that intuition suggests. This characterization can be used to reduce the computational burden of finding the optimum inspection schedule. We also show that the form of the optimum policy remains unchanged for the unbounded horizon problem. Finally, we discuss a potential application of the model to medical diagnosis.     

长贮产品基于贮存可靠度的序贯检测方法

长贮产品在贮存过程中,性能会逐步退化直至失效,保持和恢复系统可靠性的一种极为有效的方法就是周期地测试贮存产品的关键性能,并且修复和更换所发现的故障产品.检测时间间隔过长,则产品贮存可靠性达不到要求;检测时间过短,不仅要耗费大量的人力、物力甚至会诱发失效.考虑到产品贮存状态变化的复杂性,论文提出了Weibull分布产品基于贮存可靠度的序贯检测方法,可以动态调整检测间隔期,并结合仿真实例给出了序贯模型和参数估计方法.     

A Nearly Optimal Inspection Policy

This paper is concerned with an easily computable inspection policy for the detection of the failure of a system. A one-parameter policy is suggested and it is shown that this policy has the property of decreasing (increasing) intervals between successive inspection times if the system has an increasing (decreasing) failure rate. Cost comparisons, using linear cost functions, with a computationally difficult optimal policy which has a minimium expected cost show that the proposed policy compares quite well with the optimal policy.     

被检测系统的可靠性和最优检测策略

研究被检测系统的一个模型,假定系统有4种运行状态(正常工作、异常工作、正常故障和异常故障)．系统故障时不需检测,系统工作时必须经过检测才能知道它是正常还是异常．系统开始工作后,每隔一段随机时间对它检测一次,直到系统故障或检测出系统处于异常状态为止．利用概率分析和随机模型的密度演化方法,导出了系统的一些新的可靠性指标和最优检测策略．     

Availability and maintenance modeling for systems subject to dependent hard and soft failures

This paper develops availability and maintenance models for single‐unit systems subject to dependent hard and soft failures. A hard failure stops the system immediately, whereas a soft failure only reduces the performance capacity of the system. Dependence between these 2 types of failures is reflected in the fact that each soft failure directly increases the hazard rate of the hard failure. On the basis of such interaction, we derive recursive equations for the system reliability and availability functions. To detect both types of failures, inspections are executed periodically. Furthermore, we investigate the optimal inspection policy via the minimization of the expected cost per unit time. The applicability of the developed availability and maintenance models is validated by a case study on an electrical distribution system.     

A Simple Dynamic Method for Obtaining Inspection Schedules

A method for obtaining inspection schedules is proposed for situations where it is difficult to quantify the costs associated with inspections and undetected failure, or when these costs vary in time. After each inspection, the next inspection is scheduled so that there is only a small, specified probability that a failure goes undetected for longer than a specified time. Some properties of the inspection times are derived, and numerical illustrations are given for some particular cases.     

Integrated inventory and inspection policies for stochastic demand

In this paper, we develop integrated inventory inspection models with and without replacement of nonconforming items. Inspection policies include no inspection, sampling inspection, and 100% inspection. We consider a buyer who places an order from a supplier when his inventory level drops to a certain point, due to demand which is stochastic in nature. When a lot is received, the buyer uses some type of inspection policy. The fraction nonconforming is assumed to be a random variable following a beta distribution. The order quantity, reorder point and the inspection policy are decision variables. In the inspection policy involving determining sampling plan parameters, constraints on the buyer and manufacturer risks is set in order to obtain a fair plan for both parties. A solution procedure for determining the operating policies for inventory and inspection consisting of order quantity, sample size, and acceptance number is proposed. Numerical examples are presented to conduct a sensitivity analysis for important model parameters and to illustrate important issues about the developed models.     

Building up a Sequence of Optimum Media Schedules

A mathematical model is proposed for finding the response to an advertising campaign. Although, hypothetically, there is no restriction on the media involved, the assumptions made are more suited to a campaign in newspapers or magazines, rather than, for example, on television. The deficiencies in the model are discussed, and the use of such a model is compared with the use of simulation techniques. Two previous attempts to optimize similar models are discussed, and a technique for building up a sequence of optimum schedules with an example and a proof of the optimum properties are presented.     

An algorithm for network dimensioning under reliability considerations

In this paper we introduce a new methodology to adjust link capacities in circuit switched networks taking into account the costing policy and reliability considerations. This methodology, which is an extension of previous work on reliability evaluation using routing models, is based on a cyclic decomposition algorithm which alternates between a routing subproblem and a link capacity adjustment subproblem. The proposed procedure, which is shown to converge to a global optimum for the dimensioning/routing problem, has been tested on a 14 undirected arc problem for various levels of link failure probability. The numerical results are extremely satisfactory and they demonstrate the usefulness of the proposed method for proper network dimensioning.     

An ideal way of obtaining an optimal inspection permutation for a system with components connected in series

The problem of an inspection permutation or inspection strategy (first discussed in a research paper in 1989 and reviewed in another research paper in 1991) is revisited. The problem deals with an N‐component system whose times to failure are independent but not identically distributed random variables. Each of the failure times follows an exponential distribution. The components in the system are connected in series such that the failure of at least one component entails the failure of the system. Upon system failure, the components are inspected one after another in a hierarchical way (called an inspection permutation) until the component causing the system to fail is identified. The inspection of each component is a process that takes a non‐negligible amount of time and is performed at a cost. Once the faulty component is identified, it is repaired at a cost, and the repair process takes some time. After the repair, the system is good as new and is put back in operation. The inspection permutation that results in the maximum long run average net income per unit of time (for the undiscounted case) or maximum total discounted net income per unit of time (for the discounted case) is called the optimal inspection permutation/strategy. A way of determining an optimal inspection permutation in an easier fashion, taking advantage of the improvements in computer software, is proffered. Mathematica is used to showcase how the method works with the aid of a numerical example. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

定时截尾下指数分布产品可靠性抽样检验方案

本文给出了制订定时截尾下指数分布产品可靠性抽样检验方案的统计方法.检验统计量是平均寿命倒数的极大似然估计.提出了一种选择截尾时间的方法.利用分布分位数的Cornish-Fisher展开近似地确定了样本量和接收常数.模拟结果表明,本文给出的方法是可行的.     

An Inspection Policy for the Weibull Case

This paper is concerned with the detection of failure of a system when the time to failure is a Weibull variate. The suggested inspection policy depends on a single meaningful parameter. Graphical aids for computing an appropriate inspection policy on the basis of costs, or on the basis of mean time between failure and its detection are given.     

Sequencing and loading of products on a flowline

One of the main objectives of balancing a flowline is to achieve maximum throughput with minimum WIP. To that end, various methods have been proposed to control the loading of products (flow of material) on a flowline. However, the sequence in which the products are released is an issue that has rarely been addressed in conjunction with the material flow control mechanisms. In this paper, we address the problem of determining the optimal cyclic sequence in which to load different products on a flowline in order to achieve optimum throughput at minimum WIP. A lower bound on the WIP level is developed which is then used to determine the desired WIP level and the sequence in which to load the products so as to achieve optimum throughput. A new product release policy is also developed. Comparative results of the new product release policy and the sequencing procedure with other product release policies and sequencing heuristics are presented and they indicate superiority of the proposed methods.     

空中加油问题的递推模型与调度策略

首先对空中加油问题进行了分析,提取了相关性质,在此基础上建立了问题的递推模型.根据该模型,提出了一种启发式搜索算法.该算法计算复杂度低,适用性好.对应于辅机是否可以多次起飞,该算法分为两子算法.对这两种不同情况下的具体问题,设计了相关的优化函数.所有算法都在计算机中运行,并得到了相应结果.值得指出的是,提出的启发式搜索算法十分高效.对于问题1和问题2,该算法所得解是约束条件下的最优调度策略.对于问题3,问题4,问题5,该算法所得解逼近最优调度策略.     

Optimization of stochastic maintenance policies

The present study examines various inspection policy models, also known in reliability literature as preparedness models. These types of models deal with stochastically failing systems, in which failure is detected by inspection only. The present study deals with two yet unsolved problems in the field of maintenance preparedness models. The first is the analysis of various models and various objective functions while taking into consideration a positive discount factor. The second is the analysis of those models while the maintenance costs are varying in one way or another during the period of optimization. Different modes of inspection of both pure and mixed strategies are analyzed. The objective functions are set forth and solved by both a differentiation method and a dynamic programming approach.