Nonzero repair times dependent on the failure hazard

It is common in the literature on the reliability and maintenance of repairable systems to model the repair times as instantaneous. However, this is an unreasonable assumption for some complex systems, especially those requiring a high level of reliability, and such systems may spend a significant proportion of their lifetimes under maintenance and repair. We model the ageing of such a system with alternating stochastic processes. Operational times are generated at random and may have an increasing failure rate. Repair times are generated from a random process where the repair time is related to the hazard rate at failure. This yields lengthened repair times at late stages in a system subject to an increasing failure hazard rate but also accommodates long repair times at young ages in systems with a bathtub-shaped hazard rate function. We derive analytic results for a set of special cases of the model, show how simulation and inference can be carried out, and apply our method to real data from a large car manufacturer.     

On analysing warranty data from repairable items

Fitting models to failure data is an important topic in reliability. The resulting models can be useful both for manufacturers as well as for end‐users. In this paper we provide details of some methods from the literature which can be used as a starting point when analysing and fitting models to failure data from repairable items. In particular we focus on obtaining analytical estimates of the intensity of a non‐homogeneous Poisson process. We illustrate some of these methods on failure data from the warranty database of a major car manufacturer. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A two-dimensional warranty servicing strategy based on reduction in product failure intensity

The cost of servicing a warranty depends, amongst other factors, on the type of repair performed under warranty. Although “all minimal repair” and “all replacement” policies are easy to implement and analyze, they are not always feasible and/or practical. Having a combination of different types of repair often leads to lower warranty servicing costs. In this article, to reduce the warranty servicing cost, we study a servicing strategy that involves performing imperfect repairs in place of some of the minimal repairs of an “all minimal repair” strategy; the effect of an imperfect repair is characterized by a drop in the conditional intensity function of the failure process. We consider both fixed and random degrees of repair. For a given type of product, we partition the warranty region so that the expected total warranty servicing cost is minimized. We provide a numerical illustration and a comparison with previously-studied repair-replacement strategies.     

Presence of cancerostatic platinum compounds in hospital wastewater and possible elimination by adsorption to activated sludge

Platinum originating from the excreted cancerostatic platinum compounds (CPC) cisplatin, carboplatin and oxaliplatin was monitored over a period of 28 days in the wastewater of the oncologic ward of the Vienna University Hospital. Concentration levels ranging from 4.7 to 145 microg L(-1) were measured by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). An average ratio of weekly drug emission/drug consumption of 0.27+/-0.12 was assessed. Model studies were carried out for fundamental understanding of CPC interaction with the solid phases present at different stages of the water cycle. Wastewater and activated sludge were spiked with CPC at concentration levels as found in the sewer of the oncologic ward. The platinum concentration remaining in the tested solution was measured after 24 h of incubation. Depending on pH, the three substances exhibited considerably different adsorption rates in wastewater. At pH 7, cisplatin was adsorbed by 88%, whereas only 26% of carboplatin and 54% of oxaliplatin were removed from the aqueous phase. Adsorption by activated sludge was higher, less affected by pH variation and comparable for all investigated CPC (96% for cisplatin, 70% for carboplatin and 74% for oxaliplatin at pH 6.8). In a next step, the dependence of CPC adsorption was tested for wastewater and activated sludge of different sampling sites. Strong variations were found only for wastewater, whereas activated sludge showed more consistent elimination rates (average values: cisplatin 92%, carboplatin 72%, and oxaliplatin 78%). These findings indicate that the major part of the excreted CPC is adsorbed by the solid phase in the water cycle and is thus expected to be removed from the wastewater by sewage treatment plants.     

On optimal upgrade level for used products under given cost structures

In spite of the growing share of the second-hand market, often customers of used products encounter the following three problems: (a) they are uncertain regarding the durability and performance of these products due to lack of information on the item’s past usage and maintenance history, (b) they are uncertain about the accurate pricing of warranties and the post-warranty repair costs, and (c) sometimes, right after the sale, used items may have high failure rate and could be harmful to their new owner. Due to these problems, the dealers are currently carrying out actions such as overhaul and upgrade of the used products before their release. Reliability improvement, which is closely related to the concept of warranty, for used products is a relatively new concept and has received very limited attention. This paper also develops a stochastic model which results in the derivation of the optimal expected upgrade level under given structures of the profit and failure rate functions. We provide a numerical study to illustrate our results.     

Über die Standzeit thermoplastischer Polymerer

The effect of different machanical strains on polyethylene, polypropylene, polyvinylchloride and polyxymethylen was studied. Similar type long-time properties of thermoplastic polymers were found in a wide interval of strains. The long-time characteristic of each thermoplastic material could be given in semi-logarithmic coordinates In τ vs. σ, by a family of S-type curves, typical for a given temperature. Strain exhibits a clear maximum corresponding to the formation of a neck which is observed only in a narrow interval of stress. The mechanical and chemical degradation occuring under constant mechanical stress is considered. The effect of the chemical and light-stabilizers on the mechanical degradation was studied. It is shown that the long-time stability of the polymers could be extended considerably by applying structure modifying agents.     

Burst lost probabilities in a queuing network with simultaneous resource possession: a single-node decomposition approach

An efficient analytical method is presented for the calculation of blocking probabilities in a tandem queuing network with simultaneous resource possession. This queuing network model is motivated from the need to model optical burst switching networks, where the size of the data bursts varies and the link distance between two adjacent network elements also varies depending on the network?s topology. A fast single-node decomposition algorithm is developed to compute the blocking probabilities in the network. The algorithm extends the popular link-decomposition method from teletraffic theory by allowing dynamic simultaneous link possession. Simulation is used to validate the accuracy of the algorithm.     

Preparation of cleavages of polyethylene naphthalate track membranes for studying with an electron microscope

The possibility of obtaining fracture cleavages of polyethylene naphthalate tracking membrane samples for electron microscope examinations has been investigated. These cleavages allow one to examine the pore channel structure along the whole pore length from one surface to the other. Due to a high radiation and thermal stability of polyethylene naphthalate films, thermal, ultraviolet, and radiation treatment methods applied for obtaining brittle films of such polymers as polyethylene terephthalate, polycarbonate, and polypropylene are unsuitable for them. The treatment of the samples with concentrated nitric acid vapors for 1.5 months makes them brittle. It is possible to obtain good cross-section.     

Analysis of MAP/M/2/K queueing model with infinite resequencing buffer

We consider a MAP/M/2/K queueing model in which messages should leave the system in the order in which they entered into the system. In the case of infinite resequencing buffer, the steady-state probability vector is shown to be of matrix-geometric type. The total sojourn time of an admitted message into the system is shown to be of phase type. Efficient algorithmic procedures for computing various performance measures are given, and some interesting numerical examples are discussed.