Skip to main content
  • Book
  • © 2008

Complex System Maintenance Handbook

  • No other book provides such depth and coverage on the topic of maintenance of unreliable systems
  • Discusses both theory and practice
  • Chapters written by internationally-renowned researchers and experienced practitioners
  • Includes supplementary material: sn.pub/extras

Part of the book series: Springer Series in Reliability Engineering (RELIABILITY)

Buy it now

Buying options

eBook USD 169.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book USD 219.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book USD 219.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Other ways to access

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check for access.

Table of contents (25 chapters)

  1. Front Matter

    Pages i-xi
  2. An Overview

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 1-1
    2. An Overview

      • K. A. H. Kobbacy, D. N. P. Murthy
      Pages 3-18
  3. Evolution of Concepts and Approaches

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 19-19
    2. Maintenance: An Evolutionary Perspective

      • Liliane Pintelon, Alejandro Parodi-Herz
      Pages 21-48
    3. New Technologies for Maintenance

      • Jay Lee, Haixia Wang
      Pages 49-78
    4. Reliability Centred Maintenance

      • Marvin Rausand, Jørn Vatn
      Pages 79-108
  4. Methods and Techniques

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 109-109
    2. Condition-based Maintenance Modelling

      • Wenbin Wang
      Pages 111-131
    3. Maintenance Based on Limited Data

      • David F. Percy
      Pages 133-154
    4. Artificial Intelligence in Maintenance

      • Khairy A. H. Kobbacy
      Pages 209-231
  5. Problem Specific Models

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 233-233
    2. Maintenance of Repairable Systems

      • Bo Henry Lindqvist
      Pages 235-261
    3. Optimal Maintenance of Multi-component Systems: A Review

      • Robin P. Nicolai, Rommert Dekker
      Pages 263-286
    4. Replacement of Capital Equipment

      • P. A. Scarf, J. C. Hartman
      Pages 287-319
    5. Maintenance and Production: A Review of Planning Models

      • Gabriella Budai, Rommert Dekker, Robin P. Nicolai
      Pages 321-344
    6. Delay Time Modelling

      • Wenbin Wang
      Pages 345-370
  6. Management

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 371-371

About this book

Modern societies depend on the smooth operation of many complex systems (designed and built by humans) that provide a variety of outputs (products and services). These include transport systems (trains, buses, ferries, ships and ae- planes), communication systems (television, telephone and computer networks), utilities (water, gas and electricity networks), manufacturing plants (to produce - dustrial products and consumer durables), processing plants (to extract and process minerals and oil), hospitals (to provide services) and banks (for financial tra- actions) to name a few. Every system built by humans is unreliable in the sense that it degrades with age and/or usage. A system is said to fail when it is no longer capable of delivering the designed outputs. Some failures can be catastrophic in the sense that they can result in serious economic losses, affect humans and do serious damage to the environment. Typical examples include the crash of an aircraft in flight, failure of a sewerage processing plant and collapse of a bridge. The degradation can be c- trolled, and the likelihood of catastrophic failures reduced, through maintenance actions, including preventive maintenance, inspection, condition monitoring and design-out maintenance. Corrective maintenance actions are needed to restore a failed system to operational state through repair or replacement of the components that caused the failure. Maintenance has moved from being an engineering activity after a system has been put into operation into an important issue that needs to be addressed during the design and manufacturing or building of the system.

Authors and Affiliations

  • Management and Management Sciences Research Institute, University of Salford, Salford, Greater Manchester, UK

    Khairy A. H. Kobbacy

  • Division of Mechanical Engineering, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia

    D. N. Prabhakar Murthy

About the authors

Professor Kobbacy is a professor of management science at the Centre of Operational Research and Applied Statistics, and also the Director of Management and Management Sciences Research Institute, at Salford University, UK. He has a long-standing interest in "applied" operational research. He has previously lectured in operational research at Strathclyde University after gaining industrial experience in a major oil company. His research interests in operations management are directed towards the development of intelligent management systems for maintenance scheduling and inventory control. His research in preventive maintenance scheduling and management has been funded by industry and research councils. Professor Kobbacy was awarded the Operational Research President’s medal in 1990 and was a vice president of the Operational Research Society, UK, from 2002 to 2004.

Professor Murthy obtained B.E. and M.E. degrees from Jabalpur University and the Indian Institute of Science in India, and M.S. and Ph.D. degrees from Harvard University. He is currently a Research Professor in the School of Engineering at the University of Queensland and a Senior Scientific Advisor to the Norwegian University of Science and Technology. He has held visiting appointments at several universities in the USA, Europe and Asia. His current research interests include various aspects of technology management (new product development, strategic management of technology), operations management (lot sizing, quality, reliability, maintenance), and post-sale support (warranties, service contracts). He has run short courses for industry on various topics in technology management, operations management and post-sale support in Australia, Asia, Europe and the USA.

Bibliographic Information

Buy it now

Buying options

eBook USD 169.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book USD 219.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book USD 219.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Other ways to access