Historically, we can assume that the notion of equipment maintenance dates back to the appearance of the first tools and machines. However, it was not until the first half of the twentieth century, following the development of industrialization, that intervention methods began to take shape. It was following the Second World War that new needs emerged, reflecting the need for an economic, and no longer merely technical, approach to machine maintenance. New concepts were developed to serve as effective tools for the overall management of machine operations, particularly when machines were grouped together in complex, interacting chains and assemblies.
The main objective of a maintenance policy is economic efficiency, often coupled with safety imperatives and regulatory constraints. Once these constraints have been identified, the choice of maintenance policy is determined by calculating the overall life-cycle cost.
After a few definitions and a description of the different types of maintenance, we propose to detail maintenance management tools, followed by maintenance techniques for industrial engines.