Optimal maintenance policy for a Markovian system under periodic inspection

This study proposes a state-dependent maintenance policy Ri,j(T,N,α) for a multi-state continuous-time Markovian deteriorating system subject to aging and fatal shocks and with states 0 (new state) <1<2<...<L (failed-state). Under Ri,j(T,N,α), the system is inspected at each kT for k=1,2,3... to identify the current state as, say a, and then do-nothing, repair and replacement are taken immediately according to 0≤a≤i-1, i≤a≤j-1 and j≤a≤L-1, respectively in case i<j. Additionally, the replacement is carried out whenever L occurs due to fatal shocks. This policy includes numerous maintenance policies in the literature as special cases and can be applied quite generally. We then try to determine the optimal i*, j* and T* such that the expected long-run cost rate is minimized. A numerical example is given to evaluate the performance of the policy