Optimal replacement and maintenance of systems subject to semi-Markov damage (Q806192)

The paper considers a system which is subject to damage and fails once the damage exceeds the capacity of the system. The cumulative damage process is assumed to be an increasing semi-Markov process. It is assumed that the system can be replaced before or at failure, is maintained continuously and that the maintenance and non-failure costs are state- dependent. The authors determine the optimal replacement policy under the criterion of expected total discounted cost. Further, they find optimal replacement policy under the criterion of long-run average cost. Some special cases are discussed and numerical examples are also presented.