Reliability modeling and opportunistic maintenance optimization for a multicomponent system with structural dependence

In manufacturing systems, components are typically structurally interdependent, and the maintenance of a component often requires the disassembly of one or several other components. The action of disassembly may adversely affect the failure behavior of disassembled components. This study aims to investigate how disassembly actions can affect the system reliability and opportunistic maintenance optimization of disassembled components in a multicomponent system subjected to structural dependence. First, the impact of a disassembly action on the failure rate of a disassembled component was investigated and mathematically formulated. The proposed model considered both the component properties and skills of maintenance technicians. Subsequently, a reliability model integrating the impact of the disassembly action was developed. Finally, to consider the impact of structural dependence on maintenance optimization, an adaptive opportunistic maintenance policy was proposed. The proposed opportunistic maintenance policy also considered the economic dependence between components, whereby the joint maintenance of several components could reduce the total maintenance cost. Various numerical studies have been conducted to illustrate the feasibility and advantages of the proposed models and opportunistic policies. The results showed the effects of disassembly actions on the system. It also showed that omitting the impact of these actions could lead to an underestimation of the failure risk of the components and system, leading to a suboptimal maintenance policy.