Reliability and Maintenance of Transport Equipment

Transport equipment is in general a mechanical system, growing in size, capacity and complexity in order to accommodate continuous development of transport. It is essential to ensure sufficient safety, serviceability and durability of the equipment at the reduced cost in order to maintain the effectiveness of the transport system. This belongs to the research context of system reliability. Typically, a transport equipment consists of multiple subsystems or components with different function, and they would fail in different failure modes with different mechanism behind. Contributed by various non-destructive techniques ( NDTs), online sensor system and data analytics, potential failure of the equipment (fault, defect, damage) could be detected, predicted and mitigated in such a way that the occurrence of a catastrophic accident would be prevented, although with some extent of uncertainty caused by, i.e., the sensitivity of NDTs en sensors, environmental noise, etc. Upon the detection of a fault(or damage), a follow-up maintenance strategy shall be made in order to determine whether, when, where and how to repair/maintain the equipment, constrained by available budget, facilities and resources, etc.

The overall objective of the course is to prepare engineering graduates with an in-depth knowledge of system reliability, maintainability and availability. A series of modules will be given covering the fundamental theory embedded in the reliability and maintenance of transport equipment. Application of the theory in practice will be exemplified and practised through in-class exercises and discussion, weekly assignments and final case study. A few guest lectures will be introduced to demonstrate the implication of system reliability in the operation and maintenance of the transport equipment and the infrastructure.

The final grade is based on 40% for weekly assignments and 60% for the final case study. Four to five students are expected to work as a group on a case. The case study is assessed based on the final group presentation, supported by a written executive summary of the case study (70/30).

Weekly assignments are compulsory and can be completed either individually or as group work (the same group as the final case study). The grade for assignments will be the average of all weekly assignments. To pass the course, neither the final grade for the case study nor the grade for any weekly assignment can be lower than a 6.0. The final presentation will take place on campus unless unforeseen circumstances or measures arise. Detailed information will be announced on Brightspace in due time.