Introduction to Maintenance Engineering. Modelling, Optimization and Management

Description

The Metal Age, which started around 3000 BC, saw the appearance of metal tools and the evolution of civilizations in different regions of the world. This led to the development of tools for warfare and farming, and the building of roads, boats, houses, and so on. The Industrial Revolution created new mechanical devices and machines. This, in turn, led to the development of the electrical, hydraulic, and other devices and equipment that are used nowadays in nearly all sectors - farming, processing, mining, manufacturing, transport, communication, and so on, all with specific needs for maintenance. The construction of infrastructures (such as electricity, water, gas and sewage networks, dams, roads, railways, bridges, etc.) resulted in new maintenance challenges in order to keep them operational.Maintenance in the twenty-first century has moved from the trial and error approach of the technicians of the early twentieth century to a multi-disciplinary subject with science, engineering, and technology as its foundations. Over the last few decades, hundreds of books on maintenance have appeared in print. This book aims for use as a textbook on maintenance at the senior undergraduate or graduate level in engineering programs.