A Critical Investigation on the Reliability, Availability, and Maintainability of EPB Machines: A Case Study

Simple item page
aut.relation.articlenumber11245en_NZ
aut.relation.endpage1
aut.relation.issue21en_NZ
aut.relation.journalApplied Sciencesen_NZ
aut.relation.pages16
aut.relation.startpage1
aut.relation.volume12en_NZ
aut.researcherKalatehjari, Roohollah
dc.contributor.authorKalatehjari, Ren_NZ
dc.contributor.authorkoohsari, Aen_NZ
dc.contributor.authorMoosazadeh, Sen_NZ
dc.contributor.authorHajihassani, Men_NZ
dc.contributor.authorVan, Ben_NZ
dc.date.accessioned2022-11-06T22:01:57Z
dc.date.available2022-11-06T22:01:57Z
dc.date.copyright2022-11-06en_NZ
dc.date.issued2022-11-06en_NZ
dc.description.abstractTunnelling is a vital geotechnical engineering feature of underground transportation systems that is potentially hazardous if not properly investigated, studied, planned, and executed. A reliability, availability, and maintainability (RAM) analysis is one of the main practical techniques in machinery-based projects to recognize the failure and repair rates of machines during or after their operations. RAM analysis of mechanized tunneling can help to manage the project safety and cost, and improve the availability and performance of the machine. There are several methods to obtain and predict the RAM of a system, including the Markov chain simulation and other statistical methods; however, the result of the analysis can be affected by the selected method. This paper presents the results of a critical investigation on the RAM of the Earth pressure balance machines (EPBMs) used in developing an urban metro project in Isfahan, Iran. The five kilometer length of the first line of the Isfahan metro project was excavated using EPBMs over four years. After overhauling the EPBMs and making some minor changes, excavation of the second line started, and to date, about 1.2 km has been excavated by the refurbished machines. In the present study, a RAM analysis has been applied to electrical, mechanical, and cutter head subsystems of the EPBMs in Lines 1 and 2 of the Isfahan metro project over an 18- and 7-month period of machine operation, respectively. The results show that the estimated availability, A(t), determined by the Markov method, is closer to reality but cannot be propagated to reliability R(t) and maintainability M(t) analysis. It was also revealed that by predicting the required maintenance and proper planning, the overall availability of the EPBM was improved from 45% in Line 1 to 61% in Line 2. The outcomes of this study can be used in the future planning of urban tunneling projects to estimate machine, staff, and logistic performance with the least possible error, and appropriately arrange the factors involved in the system.en_NZ
dc.identifier.citationApplied Sciences. 2022; 12(21):11245. https://doi.org/10.3390/app122111245
dc.identifier.doi10.3390/app122111245en_NZ
dc.identifier.issn2076-3417en_NZ
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/10292/15596
dc.languageEnglishen_NZ
dc.publisherMDPI AGen_NZ
dc.relation.urihttps://www.mdpi.com/2076-3417/12/21/11245en_NZ
dc.rights© 2022 by the authors. Li censee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and con ditions of the Creative Commons At tribution (CC BY) license (https://cre ativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)
dc.rights.accessrightsOpenAccessen_NZ
dc.subjectReliabilityen_NZ
dc.subjectAvailabilityen_NZ
dc.subjectMaintainabilityen_NZ
dc.subjectMarkoven_NZ
dc.subjectNetwork Modellingen_NZ
dc.titleA Critical Investigation on the Reliability, Availability, and Maintainability of EPB Machines: A Case Studyen_NZ
dc.typeJournal Article
pubs.elements-id482576
pubs.organisational-data/AUT
pubs.organisational-data/AUT/Faculty of Design & Creative Technologies
pubs.organisational-data/AUT/Faculty of Design & Creative Technologies/School of Future Environments
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