• components in CBM
• Condition monitoring
• condition monitoring techniques
• Cost model
• Maintenance costs
• Maintenance strategies
• Sensors

This thesis work has been developed at Cranfield University in the “Through-life Engineering Services Centre” and it focuses on the use of Condition-based maintenance strategy, which has spread rapidly over the past few decades thanks to its advantages. In fact, by performing maintenance activities based on real-time condition of the system/machine, it is possible to maximize its safety, availability, improve equipment reliability, and optimize maintenance costs. Despite all these advantages, in some cases it is not feasible or appropriate to adopt a CBM strategy for any component in the manufacturing industry. Therefore, the purpose of the research is to investigate, by building a methodology, which aspects need to be considered for a CBM programme to be eligible. More specifically, the proposed methodology analyses the following aspects of CBM: organizational, technical and economical. Each aspect corresponds to a specific tool/analysis used. Finally, to provide further guidelines to maintenance personnel, several tests have also been carried out on artificially-damaged bearings to assess their criticality and to classify them in different deterioration stages. Data were collected through Arduino and an accelerometer and processed using Python language.