Analyses for Durability and System Design Lifetime
Analyses for Durability and System Design Lifetime
An issue in engineering design is a system's design lifetime. Economists study durability choice problems for consumer goods but seldom address lifetime problem(s) of complex engineering systems. The issues for engineering systems are complex and multidisciplinary and require an understanding of the 'technicalities of durability' and the economic implications of the marginal cost of durability and value maximization. Commonly the design lifetime for an infrastructure is set between 30 and 70 years. Satellite lifetimes are also assigned arbitrarily or with limited analysis. This book provides a systemic qualitative and quantitative approach to these problems addressing, first, the technicality of durability, second, the marginal cost of durability, and third, the durability choice problem for complex engineering systems with network externalities (competition and market uncertainty) and obsolescence effects (technology evolution). Since the analyses are system-specific, a satellite example is used to illustrate the essence and provide a quantitative application of said analyses.
- Provides a systemic qualitative and quantitative approach to system design life cycle problems, addressing first the technical aspects of durability
- Discusses the marginal cost of durability along with the economies of scale (in the time dimension) that result from extended durability
- Discusses the durability choice problem for complex engineering systems in the face of network externalities (competition and market uncertainty) and obsolescence effects (technology evolution)
- A satellite example is used in several chapters to provide a quantitative application of said analyses
- The book ends with a discussion of the need for, and growing interest in, the concept of flexibility in system design
Reviews & endorsements
Review of the hardback: 'This book provides an excellent insight into approaches that can be used to understand better the key drivers in the marginal cost of durability. … I would recommend [it] as an informative, useful, and practical addition to the engineer's library and look forward to the works on uncertainty and flexibility to follow.' Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers
Product details
October 2012Paperback
9781107410688
216 pages
254 × 178 × 12 mm
0.38kg
Available
Table of Contents
- 1. Introduction: on time
- 2. To reduce or to extend a system design lifetime?
- 3. A brief history of the economic thought on durability
- 4. Analysis of marginal cost of durability and system cost per day
- 5. Flawed metrics: system cost per day and cost per payload
- 6. Durability choice and optimal design lifetime for complex engineering systems
- Epilogue
- Appendix A
- Appendix B.
