Optimum condition-based maintenance policies for deteriorating systems with partial information

Systems are considered which deteriorate as time goes on and whose conditions can be observed. The optimum maintenance policy with respect to cost is determined, based on a continuous deterioration process, by formulating the decision process as a discrete Markov decision problem. Examples from the field of civil engineering are given. The relation between the type of deterioration and condition-based optimum inspection intervals, optimum repair level, minimum average maintenance costs and mean time to repair is shown, using some numerical results. © 1996 Elsevier Science Limited