The occurrence of equipment aging failure has a certain statistical law, and its law also forms a curve, which is usually called bathtub curve. The change of equipment failure rate presents three different stages:
The first stage is the initial failure period. During this period, the equipment has just been put into use, and due to defects in design, manufacture, installation and debugging, or unskilled operation, more failures often occur. With the constant adjustment and skillful operation of equipment, the failure rate will be lower and lower.
The second stage is the accidental failure period. During this period, the equipment entered the normal operation stage, with fewer failures and lower failure rate. Sudden accidents are often caused by operational errors or improper maintenance.
The third stage is the wear failure period. This period corresponds to the corresponding stage of equipment wear, because the equipment and its parts have reached the stage of serious wear, the equipment has deteriorated, and its performance has declined rapidly, leading to a sharp increase in failure rate. In order to prevent the failure rate from increasing greatly, equipment managers should generally carry out preventive maintenance, repair or replace the parts that will be damaged before this period comes.
The law of equipment wear and failure is the scientific basis of equipment management, as well as the basis of equipment management such as maintenance, inspection, repair and renewal.