An Extended Opportunity-Based Age Replacement Policy

Abstract

The present study proposes an extended opportunity-basedage replacement policy where opportunities occur according to a Poissonprocess. When the age, x of the system satisfies x < S for aprespecified value S, a corrective replacement is conducted if theobjective system fails. In case x satisfies S ≤ x < T foranother prespecified value T, we take an opportunity to preventivelyreplace the system by a new one with probability p, and do not takethe opportunity with probability 1 - p. At the moment x reaches T,a preventive replacement is executed independently of opportunities. Thelong-term average cost of the proposed policy is formulated. Theconditions under which optimal values for S and T exist for aprespecified value of T and S, respectively, are then clarified. Numerical examples are also presented to illustrate the theoreticalunderpinnings of the proposed replacement policy formulation.