Modelling and analysis of maintenance logistics behavior based on complex networks

The conventional model of maintenance logistics is almost based on hierarchical structure, which exchanges information and shares resources depending on chain of control. It is not adaptive for requirement of sustaining all scope of operation and maintenance of equipments, and the research and development of an innovative maintenance model is necessary, which is evolved from chain-structure to networks-structure due to nonlinearity and complexity of maintenance support behavior. In this paper the organizational model and information model of maintenance support behavior are outlined, a topology structure of maintenance support networks is described, an approach to model maintenance logistics with three-level logistics architecture is presented using undirected unweighted networks, and then the performance metrics of complex logistics networks, such as average path length, clustering coefficient and degree distribution, is analyzed with Matlab based on adjacency matrix. Additional links between nodes of networks are evolved with small-world principle, and the performance metrics along with linkage probability are illustrated, which can be employed to optimize maintenance organizational and support networks.