Multi-level Preventive Maintenance Strategy for Railway Freight Car Coupler Device

The coupler device, an essential component of railway freight cars, significantly influences operational safety and costs by its maintenance strategies. Periodic preventive maintenance strategies may lead to over-maintenance and/or under-maintenance. Thus, effective maintenance strategies are needed to ensure coupler reliability and control operational costs. This study addresses deficiencies in current maintenance strategies for railway freight car couplers, defining two levels of imperfect maintenance based on engineering scenario. The cost-effectiveness ratio is employed to decide maintenance methods at various intervals, and a multi-level reliability-based preventive maintenance model for the coupler device is developed. The proposed preventive maintenance model can reduce maintenance costs while maintaining a higher operational reliability, thereby enhancing the transportation efficiency of railway freight cars.