Computerized decision support systems in failure and maintenance management of safety critical processes

Failure management in safety critical processes is an important research issue. Computerized decision support systems based on various methodologies can be remarkably helpful. The research subject is divided into two sub-areas according to two types of applications: decision support in the control room and decision support in maintenance. The problems of the two areas are different, therefore a slightly different decision support is proposed for each of them. The problem in the control room is how to produce instructions for the personnel responsible for the plant in situations where faults have occurred at various stages. Another aim is to support decision-making in maintenance. Methodology and models based on application knowledge are developed to meet the functional requirements of decision-support systems. Prototypes are built to verify the usability of the methodologies and models. The tools are demonstrated and tested by solving concrete decision problems. One of the key issues is the methodology developed for strategy planning, including both generation and selection of strategies. The methodological frame for the models consists of decision theory, knowledge engineering and object-oriented modelling.