A Bayesian approach to an adaptive preventive maintenance model

In this paper we consider a Bayesian theoretic approach to determine an optimal adaptive preventive maintenance policy with minimal repair. By incorporating minimal repair, maintenance and replacement, the mathematical formulas of the expected cost per unit time are obtained. When the failure density is Weibull with uncertain parameters, a Bayesian approach is established to formally express and update the uncertain parameters for determining an optimal adaptive preventive maintenance policy. Furthermore, various special cases of our model are discussed in detail. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.