Determining the Periodic Maintenance Interval for Guaranteeing the Availability of a System with a Linearly Increasing Hazard Rate

This paper discusses the determination of the optimal frequency for performing preventive maintenance (PM) actions on a system that exhibits a linearly increasing hazard rate and a constant repair rate. Under a periodic maintenance policy, where a predetermined availability is guaranteed, the time interval between PM actions incurring the minimal maintenance cost is selected. Considering both cost and system availability, guidelines for determining the maintenance time interval are presented. A simple example is also provided to illustrate these ideas