The replacement problem: A polyhedral and complexity analysis

Preprint, 2009

We consider an optimization model for determining optimal opportunistic maintenance (that is, component replacement) schedules when data is deterministic. This problem, which generalizes that of Dickman et al., is a natural starting point for the modelling of replacement schedules when component lives are non-deterministic, whence a mathematical study of the model is of large interest. We show that the convex hull of the set of feasible replacement schedules is full-dimensional, and that all the necessary inequalities are facet-inducing. Additional facets are then provided through Chvatal-Gomory rounding. We show that when maintenance occasions are fixed, the remaining problem reduces to a linear program; in some cases the latter is solvable through a greedy procedure. We further show that this basic replacement problem is NP-hard.