Modelling and Optimizing Imperfect Maintenance of Coatings on Steel Structures

Robin Nicolai, Hans Frenk and Rommert Dekker

ERIM Report Series Research in Management from Erasmus Research Institute of Management (ERIM), ERIM is the joint research institute of the Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University and the Erasmus School of Economics (ESE) at Erasmus University Rotterdam

Abstract: Steel structures such as bridges, tanks and pylons are exposed to outdoor weathering conditions. In order to prevent them from corrosion they are protected by an organic coating system. Unfortunately, the coating system itself is also subject to deterioration. Imperfect maintenance actions such as spot repair and repainting can be done to extend the lifetime of the coating. In this paper we consider the problem of finding the set of actions that minimizes the expected maintenance costs over a bounded horizon. To this end we model the size of the area affected by corrosion by a non-stationary gamma process. An imperfect maintenance action is to be done as soon as a fixed threshold is exceeded. The direct effect of such an action on the condition of the coating is assumed to be random. On the other hand, maintenance may also change the parameters of the gamma deterioration process. It is shown that the optimal maintenance decisions related to this problem are a solution of a continuous-time renewal-type dynamic programming equation. To solve this equation time is discretized and it is verified theoretically that this discretization induces only a small error. Finally, the model is illustrated with a numerical example.

Keywords: condition-based maintenance; degradation modelling; imperfect maintenance; life-cycle management; non-stationary gamma process; renewal-type dynamic programming equation (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: C61 L61 L74 M O31 O32 O33 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2007-07-03
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (14)

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Related works:
Working Paper: Modelling and optimizing imperfect maintenance of coatings on steel structures (2007)
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