MANAGEMENT SIMULATION OF RAILWAY EQUIPMENT WITH WEIBULL TYPE FAILURE PROCESS

Abstract

 The condition of railway equipment is often managed through visual inspection, but the introduction of inspection records based asset management in the railway field has not been sufficiently considered. In this study, the authors developed a management simulation for risk assessment in asset management technology when the Weibull hazard model represents the failure process. Through management simulations using the Weibull hazard model estimated from the inspection records of JR Shikoku's point machines, shifting of the risks such as failure rate over time and the relationship with inspection cycles. In addition, a comparison of the Weibull hazard models for the wear-out failure type, which is often used in general equipment, and for the initial failure type adapted shows that typical maintenance management measures such as preventive maintenance may not be effective in the initial failure type.