A framework for effective management of condition based maintenance programs in the context of industrial development of E-Maintenance strategies

Highlights

• This paper presents a framework and a template to clarify the concepts and structure behind a given condition-based maintenance solution.

• This paper discusses about the necessity of CBM management approaches in complex contest like E-Maintenance strategies.

• The template will complement the RCM tables, and that will practically compile the information of the current CBM solutions.

• Any future change, improvement, of CBM program will be very much facilitated using the template provided.

• In addition, the framework and template is exemplified for an electrical power transformer CBM use case.

Abstract

CBM (Condition Based Maintenance) solutions are increasingly present in industrial systems due to two main circumstances: rapid evolution, without precedents, in the capture and analysis of data and significant cost reduction of supporting technologies. CBM programs in industrial systems can become extremely complex, especially when considering the effective introduction of new capabilities provided by PHM (Prognostics and Health Management) and E-maintenance disciplines. In this scenario, any CBM solution involves the management of numerous technical aspects, that the maintenance manager needs to understand, in order to be implemented properly and effectively, according to the company’s strategy. This paper provides a comprehensive representation of the key components of a generic CBM solution, this is presented using a framework or supporting structure for an effective management of the CBM programs. The concept “symptom of failure”, its corresponding analysis techniques (introduced by ISO 13379-1 and linked with RCM/FMEA analysis), and other international standard for CBM open-software application development (for instance, ISO 13374 and OSA-CBM), are used in the paper for the development of the framework. An original template has been developed, adopting the formal structure of RCM analysis templates, to integrate the information of the PHM techniques used to capture the failure mode behaviour and to manage maintenance. Finally, a case study describes the framework using the referred template.

Introduction

Condition-Based Maintenance (CBM) is defined by EN 13306:2010 as “Preventive maintenance that includes a combination of condition monitoring and/or inspection and/or testing, analysis and subsequent maintenance actions” [2]. ISO 13372:2012 standard defines CBM as “Maintenance performed as governed by condition monitoring programmes” [15]. CBM monitors the condition of components and systems in order to determine a dynamic preventive schedule [31].

In the literature, it is also possible to find CBM referenced as a system, a program or a solution. The standard ADS-79D-HDBK [37] defines a “CBM system” as that it includes the analytical methods, sensors, data acquisition (DA) hardware, signal processing software, and data management standards necessary to support the use of CBM as a maintenance approach to sustain and maintain systems, subsystems, and components. A “CBM solution” can be understood as the application of a particular monitoring solution to a specific case (failure mode or element). A “CBM program” comprises the application of the different CBM solutions that have been adopted for a particular system [32], and it involves management and maintenance task planning.

CBM is increasingly becoming common in industrial systems, improving the transition from maintenance approaches that combine run-to-fail and programmed preventive maintenance to more efficient maintenance approaches [17]. In recent decades, the emergence of cheaper and more reliable ICT-Information and Communication Technologies (intelligent sensors, personal digital devices, wireless tools, etc.) has allowed an increase in the efficiency of CBM programs [31]. In automated manufacturing or process plants, CBM is preferred wherever it is technically feasible and financially viable [1].

The classical industrial view of CBM is mainly focused on the use of Condition Monitoring (CM) techniques such as vibration analysis, thermography, acoustic emission or tribology [14]. The recent development of the PHM discipline (Prognosis and Health Management) is promoting a new CBM, providing powerful capabilities for physical understanding of the useful life of a system through dynamic pattern recognition [38], [21]. These capabilities allow us to treat, efficiently, new maintenance challenges in modern systems and applications [37]. This new CBM, CBM+ [18] or CBM/PHM [38], is the main pillar for the implementation of E-maintenance strategies, where CBM develops its full potential through a more proactive maintenance management.

However, there is still a large gap for effective implementation of these new CBM programs extensively in industry, mainly due to complexity of these solutions and their life cycle. To this end, we propose two practical tools to represent and understand the key points of a CBM solution life cycle:

• A framework, a basic structure to facilitate the representation of any CBM solution; and

• A template, in table format, that will complement RCM results tables, integrating the information of the CBM solution for a particular existing failure mode).

The paper is organized as follows: Section 2 presents and justifies the CBM management approach within the context of E-maintenance strategies, and complexity of its practical implementation. Section 3 develops the proposed framework and its structure, which is depicted with an UML schema. Section 4 introduces the proposed template for CBM solutions compilation in a practical example. Finally, Section 5 presents the paper conclusions.