Abstract
M.Ing. (Engineering Management)
The theory on maintenance in engineering organisations has become more applicable and acknowledged in modern industries. The correct strategies and plans for maintenance in the mining, process and manufacturing organisations have produced profitable results when applied effectively. Minimised costs, standard safety compliance, and integrity of production processes influence industrial and commercial entities to employ improved measures.
The current research reviews various maintenance strategies pertaining optimisation and improved reliability of engineering systems. Industrial operations now require a high degree of availability for production and high profit margins. Maintenance strategies application differs according to the type of industry. Corrective and preventive maintenance strategies have great similarities with different outcomes, economic and operational implications. Preventive maintenance requires tools and resources for good long-term rewards for organisations, while generally corrective maintenance strategies have high cost implications. Organisations with long-term goals to realise an operation process with high reliability and availability for production choose preventive methods. While some operations interchange between the two methods due to time constraints and cost mitigations. Overall maintenance structures apply according to the level of intensity and complexity of the system, plant and equipment. Larger operations select strategies to employ for specific systems and equipment. Main driver to select between strategies is to focus on the criticality of equipment and impact severity to overall system or plant.
This research presents a review of maintenance strategies and analysis of failure data. The study researches corrective and preventive maintenance strategies with supporting policies such as the Reliability-Centred Maintenance (RCM), Condition-Based Maintenance (CBM), and Time-Based Maintenance (TBM). Condition monitoring and reliability based modelling quantifies failure behaviour outcomes and provides both scientific and theoretic interpretations. Focus is on the methods applied to optimise performance of equipment and systems by increasing equipment availability. The study further develops quantitative and qualitative analysis using mathematical and statistical modelling tools for failure data. Qualitative analysis seeks to understand the core factors resulting to failure. Quantitative analysis develops the interpretation of failure from data. Results obtained indicate reliability parameters with an increasing failure rate over the recorded period. Probability functions depict varying...