Sensitivity analysis and comparison of algorithms in preventive maintenance and replacement scheduling optimization models

In this research, new optimization models are developed to determine the optimal preventive maintenance and replacement schedules in repairable and maintainable systems. The objective is to determine a plan of actions for each component in the system while minimizing the total cost and maximizing overall system reliability over the planning horizon. Experimental results of a sensitivity analysis on the optimization models are presented and evaluated. These experiments investigate the effect of the parameters on the structure of optimal preventive maintenance and replacement schedules in multi-component systems. Two factorial design experiments based on the cost associated with maintenance and replacement activities and reliability characteristic parameters are constructed and analyzed. In addition, a comprehensive experiment is designed to analyze and compare the efficiency and accuracy of the exact and metaheuristic algorithms.