Optimal strategy for inspection and repair of structural systems

Abstract

A new strategy for inspection and repair of structural elements and systems is presented. The total cost of inspection and repair is minimized with the constraints that the reliability of elements and/or of the structural system are acceptable. The design variables are the time intervals between inspections and the quality of the inspections. Numerical examples are presented to illustrate the performance of the strategy. The strategy can be used for any engineering system where inspection and repair are required.

Keywords:

• Maintenance strategy
• non-linear optimization
• structural reliability
• mathematical modelling