Abstract
Abstract : Condition based maintenance (CBM) is a maintenance approach that uses condition monitoring data to decide maintenance actions. It was introduced in the 1960’s through a study that was initiated by the Department of Defence in USA for the improvement of preventative maintenance program for the Boeing 747. It was concluded that aging cannot be an approach that could be used to plan maintenance activities, and therefore CBM and condition monitoring were introduced as alternative methods to plan and execute maintenance. In the South African railway industry, the majority of the main rolling stock operators had adopted CBM as their main maintenance strategy to improve reliability, availability, maintainability and safety (RAMS). The success of achieving RAMS through CBM relies solely on how CBM is implemented, particularly for rolling stock vehicles. Therefore, there are specific factors that should be considered when implementing CBM, which would determine the success or failure of the implementation process. This research studied the effectiveness of CBM for rolling stock vehicles in South Africa by investigating the contribution of CBM to RAMS in rolling stock operations, the factors that should be considered when implementing CBM, the measurement of the effectiveness of CBM and the extent to which CBM has been adopted by South African rolling stock operators. A quantitative research method was used for this study, and both literature and questionnaire surveys were used to answer the research questions. According to the literature survey, CBM would not be effective without the installation of a condition monitoring system that would consistently monitor the performance and the deterioration of the monitored components, and subsequently transmit a signal for any potential failure to the maintenance team. Based on the condition of the monitored component, the maintenance team would then make a decision on the required intervention to avoid failure...
M.Phil. (Engineering Management)