Simulation fields for Component

Simulation Fields for Component

Data that can be filled in for a component is described in "Component". The fields below are discussed with respect to their role in simulation.

Begin date

The value entered for Begin date defines the age of the object at the moment the simulation starts, by subtracting the date the simulation is run ("today") from the Begin date. This implies that planned or scheduled events like failures and preventive maintenance are moved on the simulation time line. A failure occurring on average after 5 years will now occur 2 years from the start of the simulation, if the date value entered results in a start age of 3 years. The same applies to a preventive maintenance action.

The begin date of a part affects all failures and preventive maintenance actions associated with this object. Only specified Begin dates for a component overrule this value.

Example 1

Suppose a part has a begin age of 3 years. Dependent objects for this system determine that the first preventive maintenance for this part will take place after 5 years. When simulating, the first failure will occur after 4 years.

Example 2

When the begin age entered exceeds the average time of an event, the average time, i.e. the modulus of the start age and event time, is used. Suppose a failure occurs every 3 years on average, and the object has a start age of 10 years.

Then the formula is: MTTF = MTTF - (Start Age of Modulus MTTF). In this example, this is 2 years.

At the moment of simulation, there have, on average, already been 3 failures (after 9 years). So, at the start of the simulation (10 years), it will take another 2 years before the 4th failure is supposed to occur (4 * 3 = 12 years).