Evolutionary Maintenance Based on Maintenance Free Operating Period Philosophy

Maintenance intervention is necessary for the system and equipment to maintain their operational performance during their lifetime. Maintenance and maintenance policy plays an importance role in achieving systems operational effectiveness at minimum cost. Accordingly, developing an optimal maintenance strategy to minimize maintenance costs is very important. This paper proposes a method to optimize maintenance strategy based on maintenance free operating period (MFOP), where MFOP philosophy is originated by the reliability office of the Royal Air Force. Furthermore, the optimal maintenance interval that meets the proposed reliability requirement is determined. In summary, the method not only can improve the traditional maintenance policies but also reflect the system changing states as components within them age.