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Parida, A (2008), Relevant health monitoring based maintenance for an effective

strategic engineering asset management, Proceedings of 21st International
Congress of Condition Moni...

Article · June 2008

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 Published in the proceedings of COMADEM 2008, June 11-13 at Prague

RELEVANT HEALTH MONITORING BASED MAINTENANCE FOR AN

EFFECTIVE STRATEGIC ENGINEERING ASSET MANAGEMENT
Aditya Parida
Division of Operation and Maintenance Engineering
Luleå university of Technology, 971 87 Luleå, Sweden
Tel: +46 920 491437, Fax: +46 920 492818
aditya.parida@ltu.se

ABSTRACT
Industries need for an optimal preventive maintenance strategy integrated with health monitoring
technique of plant and machinery system has led to the concept of relevant condition predictor
(RCP) based maintenance system. The purpose of this concept is to prevent the failure of the
plant and machinery system for improving their reliability and availability leading to effective
strategic engineering asset management. This is achieved through relevant health monitoring of
the critical plant and machinery system considering the application and cost-effectiveness of the
monitoring technique. A review of the relevant health monitoring based maintenance is
undertaken in this paper for achieving an effective strategic engineering asset management
system.

KEY WORDS: Health monitoring, strategic engineering asset management, relevant condition
predictor (RCP), maintenance system

INTRODUCTION
Technology, electronic and automation development and changes in the last couple of decades
have dominated the global industrial scenario demanding an effective, safe and reliable strategic
engineering asset management. Under this technological advancement and global competition
scenario, asset owners and managers are striving for monitoring, assessing and following up the
asset performance. Health monitoring of the strategic engineering asset is an important issue and
challenge for the management as it provides information on plant and system health status to
achieve higher productivity with minimum cost and safety with high reliability. The
advancement in computer and information technology has a significant impact on the process of
maintenance information system for finding the asset health status facilitating timely decision
making. Advancement of sensor technologies, automated controls and data telemetry have made
possible new and innovative methods in asset health monitoring. Rapid growth in the networking
systems, especially through the internet has overcome the barriers of distance, allowing a real
time data transfer to occur easily from different locations [1].

An asset management system will consist of activities like; operational planning and scheduling,
forecasting and resource planning, asset health monitoring, predictive and diagnostic system and
maintenance system, etc. The asset management system allows the managers to plan preventive
 Published in the proceedings of COMADEM 2008, June 11-13 at Prague

and predictive maintenance activities based on time and resource constraints, performance status
and operational condition. Maintenance process is a complex one as it involves multiple inputs
and outputs, besides taking care of the failure rate, downtime and repair cost, safety, reliability
and life of the plant and machineries. Maintenance process may be corrective, preventive and
opportunity based. An effective and efficient maintenance management system requires an asset
health monitoring system to take care of the asset’s performance degradation and the associated
decision making process for achieving business objectives.

The machine breakdown or degradation of performance over time and accidents are some of the
reason for the plant production interruption affecting the effectiveness of the plant. The operation
and maintenance policy and safety performance of the plant plays a significant role in achieving
the operational effectiveness of the plant. Therefore, the management has to depend on the
prognostics and diagnostic health monitoring for its asset performance and productivity
enhancement. Relevant health monitoring is a part of predictive maintenance where condition
monitoring techniques are involved in the process. Hence, a balanced and total approach is
required to be adopted while planning for relevant health condition monitoring for asset
productivity enhancement.

RELEVANT HEALTH MONITORING BASED MAINTENANCE SYSTEM

In the mid-1970s when condition monitoring just started developing it was treated world wide as
an instrument technology focused on making measurements of the parameters which describe the
condition of the items. But since 1980 information technology has undergone radical change,
which made a great impact on condition monitoring by eroding the boundaries between the
computer and instrument. Collection and processing of data have become very simple as the
network of computers has replaced mainframe computers, enabling the information to be shared
around the company. Now the focus is placed on the results obtained from the processed data,
rather than the data obtained from measurements, making condition monitoring into a results-
orientated technology that helps designers and operating personnel by giving intelligent
information [2]. Also, different measurement technologies within condition monitoring which
have been competing with each other are being integrated into a multi-discipline in order to
complement each other. This facilitates the decision maker to choose the best combination of
monitoring techniques, which are both economically and technically sound and serves the main
purpose of condition monitoring.

Condition monitoring is basically applicable to systems and components whose condition

deteriorates with time. This is normally undertaken with the help of instrumentation to take
regular or continuous measurements of condition parameters, in order to determine the physical
state of an item or system without disturbing its normal operation. A few measurement
technologies that are used in condition monitoring are [3]:

• vibration;
• lubricant analysis;
 Published in the proceedings of COMADEM 2008, June 11-13 at Prague

• thermography;
• ultrasonics;
• acoustic emission; and
• high frequency vibration [4].

With a need to minimize down time, failure rate and defect, instantaneous response, decision-
making and high level of performance; prognostics and diagnostics are used through embedded
sensors and device to business tool. All these needs have lead to health card for equipment’s
degradation assessment, which forms part of the maintenance process. The plant/equipment
health management system thus, could consist of condition monitoring diagnostics and
prognostics, and condition based operation and support, to improve the dependability and safety
of the technical systems, besides decreasing life cycle cost of operation and support. This system
delivers data and information, which indicates the health condition of the system. The
stakeholders of the system are the receivers of the data and information. The problem today in a
health management system is the existing information islands, i.e. the different specialized
systems, with in an organization speaking a different data and information language.

RCP-based maintenance
The transformation of condition-monitoring techniques added a new pace to the fast-growing
condition-based maintenance. New maintenance strategies were the need of the time to improve
the reliability and availability of the plant and machineries. The direct condition monitoring of
the item has led to the invention of RCP-based maintenance, proposed by Knezevic [5, 6]. The
RCP method considers the direct condition of the item into the calculation of reliability
characteristics of the system reliability for optimization and implementation of maintenance
procedures.

RCP-based maintenance can be defined as maintenance carried out in demand to a significant

deterioration in condition of a system through its constituent items, which is indicated by a
change in the corresponding relevant condition predictors [3]. This change is monitored through
condition-monitoring techniques as RCP-based maintenance is applicable for items that undergo
degradation failure mechanisms. The degradation occurs as a result of gradual deterioration, of
the mechanical systems due to wear, corrosion, fatigue crack growth; etc. Condition monitoring
an essential element of condition based maintenance is accepted as one of the popular
maintenance methods by various authors and researchers [7, 8, 9, 10&11]. Condition monitoring
relies on the detection and monitoring of selected equipment parameters, and collection of the
measuring parameter data, which is analyzed and interpreted for the health status deterioration so
that warning can be reported for the impending failure. Most of the machine failures are followed
by certain signs or indications of an impending failure, which may precede the actual failure by
weeks or months. Asset owners and managers are interested in knowing this warning period so
that they can use this information for making appropriate maintenance planning and scheduling
decision. The feedback information from condition monitoring determines any likely failure and
how long the equipment can run before failure, besides identifying specific component of
 Published in the proceedings of COMADEM 2008, June 11-13 at Prague

degradation. The condition monitoring techniques consists of the dynamic effects like; vibration,
and noise levels, particles or emission releases to atmosphere, physical effects such as cracks,
wear, deformation and fractures, temperature or thermal, electrical effects, such as resistance,
conductivity etc. Sensor technology and various condition monitoring technique and tools are
used by the industry extensively.
Due to current constraints of the industrial economic climate, condition monitoring is more and
more adopted by the industry to reduce the time and resources lost due to over maintenance
which is calendar based. However, the questions like; what to measure, when to measure, who
measures, where to measure and how to measure are basic questions which are required to be
considered while going to plan, develop and perform condition monitoring. It is required that
industry must decide what are the measures or condition of the plant and machineries required to
be monitored?

Under RCP-based maintenance strategy, the maintenance activities are undertaken on the
significant items, whose condition is described by a RCP considering the cost-effectiveness of
condition-monitoring tools and techniques, besides their availability. One major benefit of RCP-
based maintenance is the reduction of down time. Defective components can be predicted by use
of sensors to plan and schedule the resources and manpower for the maintenance activities
eliminating the time for fault diagnosis, thus reducing the down time. Another benefit is that only
defective parts need to be repaired or replaced to minimize the repair costs and down time.

RCP-based maintenance is undertaken in two steps. Under the first step, a systematic approach
addresses a sequenced set of questions for individual item of the system. The type of
maintenance strategy, i.e. what type of maintenance task to be adopted is decided by the most
suitable answers to these questions for the respective item. The second step consists of a
mathematical model for the implementation of the RCP-based approach to maintenance
planning. Four activities are undertaken in the first step;
a) identifying the maintenance-significant items (MSIs)
b) determining all condition parameters
c) identifying relevant condition predictors (RCPs)
d) selecting condition-monitoring techniques.

Identifying the MSIs. For identifying the MSIs of the system, a detailed survey of all items of the
system is carried out through the failure modes, effects and criticality analysis (FMECA). For
example, risk-priority number (RPN) is one of the methods for selecting a significant item. If the
RPN of an item exceeds a certain predetermined value, then such an item is considered to be a
MSI and, if not, a non-significant item. For all non-significant items, the maintenance strategy to
be followed is corrective or failure-based maintenance.

Determining all condition parameters. After identifying the MSI, the relevant condition
parameters, which describe the condition or performance of each MSI, are determined. A
condition parameter is a measurable variable able to display directly or reflect indirectly
 Published in the proceedings of COMADEM 2008, June 11-13 at Prague

information about the condition of an item or the system at any instant of operating time. It is
essential that as many condition parameters as possible are determined, which can reflect the
exact condition of the system. However, if the condition of the MSI is not possible to be
monitored for cost or practical reason, then time-based or scheduled preventive maintenance
strategy is to be followed.

Identifying RCPs. After determining the condition parameters, the item is checked for its
condition type or belongingness to relevant condition indicator (RCI) or RCP. If a condition
parameter describes the condition of an item and indicates the condition of the item at the instant
time of checking (inspection), then it is known as RCI. The RCI is related to the performance of
the item as it indicates the state of the item at the instant or time of inspection, and helps to
understand the condition of the item, like; temperature of the item, oil level and vibration level
etc. For RCI, the maintenance strategy of condition based maintenance is suggested for adoption.
For RCI, the most suitable frequency of inspection and critical level are determined during the
design stage i.e. before introduction of the item into service. Inspections are performed for a MSI
during its operation at the pre-determined interval (Ti) the critical level (Tc) is reached. Once
RCI (Ti)>RCI (Tc), the preventive maintenance, i.e. the condition-based maintenance task is
performed and the item is restored to its original condition [3]. RCP is a condition parameter that
describes the condition of the item at every instant of operating time, like; the length of the
crack, pipe wall thickness etc related to the size, shape, weight and other characteristics of an
item. RCP implementation is discussed subsequently.

Selecting condition-monitoring techniques. After determination of the MSI and RCP, the suitable
condition-monitoring technique is identified for examining the relevant condition predictor. A
condition monitoring technique is a tool or device used for examining an item to provide
accurate information about its condition at any instance of operating time. To find the most
suitable condition-monitoring technique or the combination of techniques, the availability and
cost effectiveness of the technique and finding the numerical value of the relevant condition
predictor at the time of examination are questioned and answered. If no answer to these questions
can be found then RCP-based maintenance cannot be performed and time-based maintenance is
undertaken.

Implementation of RCP-based maintenance. A large number and types of condition monitoring

techniques are available for use by the industry. Today mathematical implementation of RCP-
based maintenance is possible for all the MSIs for which RCPs are available. Under this
procedure, vast array of measurements are collected by the condition-monitoring team and
transformed in few steps into a major improvement in the reliability and availability of the
system under consideration. This is achieved first by choosing required reliability as the
optimization criterion, which means, as soon as the reliability reduces to the required reliability
level, immediately preventive maintenance tasks are performed and the system is restored to its
original condition. Second, an optimum time interval is calculated mathematically, for the
inspection of RCPs, using the information on similar items from the previous condition-
 Published in the proceedings of COMADEM 2008, June 11-13 at Prague

monitoring measurements. This extends the realizable operating life of the considered items and
reduces the number of unnecessary interruptions in the operation process, which results in an
increase in the system availability [3]. Once we know the nature of the distributions and the
displacement functions of each MSI, whose condition is described by a RCP, the next step is to
find the time to the first examination of the system. As mentioned earlier, in order to find an
optimum time interval for the examination, we use the required reliability of the item under
consideration as the optimization criterion.

HEALTH MONITORING ROLE IN STRATEGIC ENGINEERING ASSET MANAGEMENT

The asset strategy is derived from the corporate vision, mission and goal, based on the external
stakeholder and internal stake holder’s requirements, as also the business objectives and strategy.
Depending on the business policy, objectives and strategy, reliability, availability,
maintainability and supportability (RAMS) and other asset management tools like; life cycle
profit (LCP), reliability centered maintenance (RCM) and total productivity maintenance (TPM)
are selected for undertaking various asset strategy functions. Each of these asset strategy
functions supports the strategic engineering asset to achieve its business objectives, when
appropriately formulated and implemented. The asset strategy and the RCP-based maintenance
need to be compatible. In Figure 1, the relationship between the asset health monitoring,
operation, maintenance and performance measurement with that of the strategic engineering
asset management can be seen.

Business Requirement Financial Asset

objectives analysis plan aquisition

Installation
Productivity
enhancement loop

Performance Operation Logistic

Analysis, measurement support
review
and
decision
making Asset health Maintenance
monitoring

Disposal

Figure 1 Asset health monitoring in Strategic engineering asset management

(Adapted from [12]
 Published in the proceedings of COMADEM 2008, June 11-13 at Prague

Maintenance functions under such a Strategic engineering asset management sustain and improve
the system’s availability, safety and product quality. Development of ICT has contributed to the
emergence of remote maintenance concept since early 2000, which has become a common term
in the maintenance related literature today [13]. Remote or e-Maintenance can be defined as a
maintenance strategy where tasks are managed electronically using real time equipment data
obtained through digital technologies (i.e. mobile devices, remote sensing, condition monitoring,
knowledge engineering, tele-communications and internet technologies [14]. e-Maintenance is
also considered as a maintenance plan to meet the productivity through condition monitoring,
proactive maintenance and remote maintenance through real time information for decision
making. Koc and Lee [15] referred e-Maintenance as predictive maintenance system which
provides only monitoring and predictive prognostics functions. e-Maintenance thus can be
termed as a maintenance support for the E-Operation through remote diagnostics and asset
management, simulation for optimisation and decision making under an E-Business scenario for
an organisation.

CONCLUSION
More and more industry today is adapting to a maintenance strategy with a combination of less
corrective and preventive with more predictive or prognostics for productivity, safety, cost
effectiveness and reliability. Selection of suitable maintenance strategy is required for successful
operation of plant and machinery. Maintenance strategies like RCP-based maintenance, with the
help of the improved and integrated condition-monitoring techniques have given a great
opportunity for us to understand, monitor and maintain the condition of the item like never
before. Continuous monitoring of RCP and using the data collected from the life tests gradual
deterioration in mechanical systems can be modeled to support the management in right decision
making, besides achieving the business objectives. The failures can be prevented and the
required reliability level of the system can be maintained by the integrating the condition-
monitoring techniques and by efficient implementation of RCP-based maintenance.

RCP-based maintenance enables the maintenance engineer to decide an optimum maintenance

strategy for each constituent MSI of the system by giving substantive and corroborated
diagnostic information. As discussed in this paper, with such an advanced computer technology
available today, it should be possible to integrate all the information gathered through condition
monitoring on all the machines in the plant into a single system in order to get a complete picture
of the plant at any instant of operation. The residual life of the item can be ascertained through
condition monitoring and data simulation.

Condition monitoring and RCP-based maintenance in asset management plays an important role
supporting the maintenance activities and achieving enhanced asset productivity by taking
appropriate decision at different hierarchical level of the organization. As mentioned earlier,
maintenance and condition monitoring are multi-disciplinary involving different players with in
and outside the organization. A considered and detailed planning, besides, management’s active
involvement, commitment and strategy are pre-requisite to achieve these objectives. With new
 Published in the proceedings of COMADEM 2008, June 11-13 at Prague

prognostics and diagnostic technology, a holistic and integrated approach is required to be

adopted by the management for condition monitoring and RCP-based maintenance which will
lead to the desired asset productivity enhancement.

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