Modelling asset lifetimes and their role in asset management

Abstract

Utilities throughout the world are faced with the challenge of how best to manage their existing asset stock to provide satisfactory customer service with limited funds.Effective asset management helps utilities to meet this challenge; however, this requires the utilization of cost-effective approaches for assessing asset condition, performance and remaining service life. A key component of these approaches requires an understanding of asset lifetimes. This paper discusses the role of asset lifetimes in asset management and the current state of the art for prediction of remaining life using different approaches.It discusses very simple approaches based on assumed lives, as well as sophisticated mathematical approaches using deterministic, statistical, physical/probabilistic and artificial intelligence models. In analysing both asset management strategies and lifetime prediction methodologies, a key factor identified as missing is a standardized technique for the incorporation of lifetime models into the probability side of risk analysis. For asset management to become a valued and readily utilized tool, this issue needs to be urgently addressed.

Optimizing cluster selections for the replacement planning of water distribution systems

“…Physical-based methods (Rajani & Kleiner, 2001;Rajani & Makar, 2000) were also proposed that quantify the rate of structural decay due to environmental loadings such as soil corrosion or frost heaving. A broader concept of risk that incorporates both the likelihood and severity of potential events was also presented (Burn et al, 2010;Faber & Stewart, 2003). In particular, Kabir et al (2018) present a knowledge-based model for quantifying social, environmental, and fiscal impacts of pipe breaks.…”

Investing in the Water Infrastructure of Tomorrow

“…Nevertheless, if such sustainability objectives are adopted, many related activities will be directed through asset management. Certainly, asset management frameworks have, over time, transitioned so as to shift the focus away from a purely 'asset-centric' view to one that considers the generation of societal value through the provision of water services (Burn et al 2010). A definition that encapsulates the main features of this sustainability-based asset management is: "…the combination of management, financial, economic, engineering and other practices applied to assets with the objective of maximizing the value derived from an asset stock over the whole life cycle, within the context of delivering appropriate levels of service to customers, communities and the environment and at an acceptable level of risk" (Marlow and Burn 2008).…”

Research orientations towards the ‘management’ of infrastructure assets: an intellectual structure approach

“…Beside these contextual uncertainties, Articles in the many technical difficulties remain unresolved in the models themselves such as 'autocorrelation bias' (Li, Sheng, Li, & Zhou, 2010) or interpretive bias (Farran & Zayed, 2012;Hong & Prozzi, 2010) and demonstrate the reliability of models (Tsai, Li, Purcell, & Rabun, 2012). Similarly, articles that cite from the Water and Utility Infrastructure path argue that using standard asset lifetimes to predict performance is biased (Burn, Marlow, & Tran, 2010) due to often differing ages (Ugarelli & Di Federico, 2010). Finally, also some retrieved articles, which cite in Life Cycle Decision Making and Organization, raise the little progress that has been made in estimating the remaining service life of bridges (Dissanayake & Karunananda, 2008;Frangopol & Liu, 2006) and perhaps can be addressed by fuzzy logic and analytical hierarchy process techniques (Sasmal & Ramanjaneyulu, 2008).…”