Abstract
Railways are required to operate with a high level of reliability and safety for transporting passengers. Because the wheel is one of the key subsystems of a railway train, it can contribute significantly to the train's reliability and safety. One important way to meet the requirements is to implement proper maintenance activities. A modeling approach is developed on the basis of Petri nets for the maintenance analysis of wheels. The detailed maintenance and renewal options to be explored for wheel maintenance are discussed. The model is solved with Monte Carlo simulation to investigate the effectiveness of maintenance actions. Moreover, the developed model can be flexible, and different ways in which the complexity of the model can be extended are discussed. A case study is conducted to demonstrate the execution of the model. Analysis of the results shows that the model is useful in predicting life-cycle wheel maintenance activities and costs throughout the train's life, and this information can be used in maintenance optimization.
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