Reliability Centered Maintenance Actions Prioritization Using Fuzzy Inference Systems

Abstract

Reliability centered maintenance (RCM) is a systematic maintenance philosophy/approach used to analyze system's performance in terms of the impact of a potential failure and select the most efficient maintenance tasks along with their timings in order to mitigate failures risks. In this paper, a comprehensive RCM actions prioritization method is proposed using four criteria: severity, benefit to cost ratio, customer satisfaction, and easiness of action implementation. The method utilizes fuzzy inference system (FIS) to incorporate subject matter experts feedback into the decision making process. The output of the FIS, which takes the form of a numerical weight that assesses the relative importance of each criterion, is then fed into a binary integer program (BIP) that selects the optimal maintenance actions out of a set of possible actions. A real life example of a hydraulic brake system is also provided to illustrate the proposed methodology.