Modular Fault Ascription and Corrective Maintenance Using a Digital Twin

The industrial environment is slowly transforming to a networked system of systems nature with industry 4.0. Automation systems are getting more production friendly by being more reconfigurable and adaptable. The plant engineering process is also getting improved by offering modular architecture, model-based engineering, etc. This transformation necessitates novel methodologies in maintenance practices as well. With the emergence of predictive maintenance techniques, sometimes it is possible to predict a breakdown and thus conveniently schedule the corrective maintenance. But this is not always the case, the incidence of unscheduled corrective maintenance is prevalent in an industrial environment. And the methodologies for corrective maintenance have to be reshaped fitting to the new plant environment. This paper introduces a new modular corrective maintenance methodology, using the digital twin of an automation module. Fault ascription support for a human technician, performing corrective maintenance action of an automation module is provided by its digital twin and associated visual interface. A use case scenario is propounded and future visions are presented. (C) 2018, IFAC (International Federation of Automatic Control) Hosting by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.