5. Conclusion

Failure diagnosis and prognosis is one of the major preoccupations of industrial equipment operators when it comes to assessing the residual lifetime of their investments. To achieve this objective, methods based on physical models represent a reliable and accurate alternative, since they rely on knowledge of the physical laws governing the behavior of equipment and its materials. The procedure for diagnosing, prognosticating and estimating residual service life using physical models requires the choice of a physical model, either empirical or deduced from physical laws. It involves carrying out test campaigns followed by parameter identification and estimation. Diagnosis of degradation or failure is undertaken once the warning threshold has been crossed, followed by decision-making. Then, depending on the results of the diagnosis, the DEFAD prognosis is initiated, followed by the choice...