Title: Analysis of machine-repairing systems with server breakdown and delayed repairs

Authors: Jau-Chuan Ke; Tzu-Hsin Liu; Ying-Lin Hsu; Hui-Tzu Ku

Addresses: Department of Applied Statistics, National Taichung University of Science and Technology, Taichung, Taiwan ' Department of Applied Statistics, National Taichung University of Science and Technology, Taichung, Taiwan ' Department of Applied Mathematics, National Chung Hsing University, Taichung, Taiwan ' Department of Applied Mathematics, National Chung Hsing University, Taichung, Taiwan

Abstract: This paper considers a machine-repairing system with a partial breakdown and delay-repairs. When the servers fail, the service continues at a slower rate instead of stopping completely. We utilise a matrix-analytic method to obtain steady-state probabilities. We then develop system performance measures. A cost model is developed to simultaneously determine the optimal value of the number of servers, the number of standby servers, the two service rates, and the cost of maintaining system availability at an acceptable level. We employ the probabilistic global search Lausanne method to deal with the optimisation problem. Sensitivity analysis is also conducted in which various system parameters are evaluated under optimal operating conditions. Finally, an application example is provided to demonstrate how the presented model could be used in real-life situations.

Keywords: cost analysis; partial breakdowns; delayed repairs; warm standby machine; probabilistic global search Lausanne.

DOI: 10.1504/IJISE.2019.099192

International Journal of Industrial and Systems Engineering, 2019 Vol.31 No.4, pp.517 - 534

Received: 30 Jul 2016
Accepted: 26 Aug 2017
Published online: 23 Apr 2019 *

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