Thread Content
1. The significance of equipment maintenance: During daily use and operation, machine equipment is affected by factors such as external loads, internal stresses, wear and tear, corrosion, and natural degradation. These factors cause certain parts or the entire equipment to change in size, shape, and mechanical properties, resulting in a reduction in the equipment’s production capacity, increased consumption of raw materials and energy, lower product quality, and even accidents involving personnel or the equipment itself. This is an objective law of technical degradation that all devices are inevitably subject to. In enterprises, due to the need for continuous production of machinery and equipment, most of these devices operate under extremely harsh conditions such as severe wear and tear, high corrosion, high or low pressure, and extreme temperatures. Therefore, maintenance work is more important than in other departments. To ensure that machinery and equipment can maintain their production efficiency over time and to extend their service life, it is necessary to carry out appropriate maintenance and routine upkeep on them. It is an important measure for tapping into a company’s production potential, and it also constitutes the fundamental material basis for completing production tasks in large quantities, quickly, with high quality, and efficiently, or even exceeding those targets. 2. Relationship between equipment functionality and time: Due to the aforementioned internal and external factors, the functionality of equipment gradually deteriorates after it has been in operation for a certain period of time, especially in the case of transmission equipment, industrial furnaces, and equipment that is severely subject to corrosion. It generally manifests as a decline in performance, worsening of process parameters, increased consumption levels, and reduced reliability, leading to a decrease in the overall functionality of the equipment. As shown in Figure 1-1. Figure 1-1: Relationship between device functionality and time. The overall functionality of the device is its rated output A0; after operating for m1 time, its functionality gradually decreases to A1, at which point the device needs to be repaired. The time from 0 to this point is m1; it is referred to as the operation interval or maintenance interval. According to the definition of equipment integrated engineering, it is referred to as the average maintenance interval. This interval should be slightly shorter than the failure interval, so that worn or severely corroded parts or other faulty components can be replaced before a failure (accident) occurs. t2-t1=tr is the downtime for repairs. Obviously, for a production process without backup equipment, the shorter this time tr is, the better. However, it is necessary to ensure the quality of the maintenance; even after the maintenance is completed and the equipment is operated for a certain period of time (time t2), its performance should return to the rated level A2, with A2 being equal to A0. After running for another period of time m1, that is, after the interval has passed, by time t3 the device’s performance drops back to A3; at this point it is necessary to shut down the device for maintenance. After repairs lasting tr time, the device’s performance is restored once again. After n periods of operation, and despite several repairs, its functionality could not be fully restored; that is, An