AN INVESTIGATION OF DIAGNOSTIC, PROGNOSTIC AND STRUCTURAL HEALTH MONITORING SYSTEMS IN ASSET MANAGEMENT

摘要

Increasing competition in a globalised environment makes it difficult for business enterprises to meet customer demands and expectations. To meet these demands companies require high performance assets that can produce quality services and products. All physical assets degrade with usage or time due to aging, abnormal operating conditions and the effect of the environment. The purpose of maintenance interventions is to counter this degradation by selectively replacing or repairing items and components of the asset system. Investigation of literature indicated that diagnostic, prognostic and structural health monitoring (DPS) systems are becoming increasingly valuable to determine the health or condition of asset systems and individual items and components. The main objective of this research was to establish the current usage of DPS systems in industry and to determine to what extent data from DPS systems is used by maintenance managers in decision making. A study was done to determine the application of other tools than just normal condition monitoring to improve and optimize maintenance performance. The focus of the investigation was on DPS systems as a means to improve operational capability, availability and safety. Data was collected by means of surveys in engineering industries in a number of Southern African countries, i.e. Namibia, South Africa, Botswana, Zambia and Zimbabwe. Questionnaires were distributed to plant managers, supervisors, engineers and technologists in engineering industries. It was found that most industries and companies make use of methodologies and systems that are part of the damage prognosis (DP) process to satisfy their maintenance requirements. Preventive maintenance is used to a large extent and condition monitoring forms part of predictive maintenance strategies. However, structural health monitoring (SHM) is only used by a small number of companies. It was also found that the majority of respondents did not have a good knowledge of what damage prognosis entails and have not adopted this integrated maintenance method. A case study of a hydro-electric power station revealed that productivity levels increased after the implementation of DPS systems on the plant. This paper addresses aspects of asset management and in particular one of the 39 subjects defined by the Global Forum on Maintenance and Asset Management (GFMAM), namely 'Asset Performance and Health Monitoring'. The findings can benefit asset managers in industry by highlighting the aspects of health monitoring of assets that could be improved to increase asset performance and benefit the overall business enterprise.