This thesis addresses Nimitz class aircraft carrier tank and void maintenance. It contributes to the solution of current maintenance problems in four ways. First, it stratifies Nimitz class aircraft carrier tanks and voids into ten groups and assigns a criticality factor to each group. These groups and criticality factors can be extended to other classes of ships. Second, it demonstrates methods to estimate the survival function of tank and void coating lifetimes based on inspection data. Actual estimates of the survival function for each group are given, but are based on current data of questionable quality. Third, it develops a decision tool to plan inspections and budget maintenance costs over multiyear periods. Preliminary application of this tool demonstrates the cost effectiveness of driving maintenance by inspection. Finally, sampling plans provided to AIRLANT for CVN 71 1997 EDSRA and CVN 73 1997 SRA are discussed. These sampling plans were developed to obtain unbiased estimates of the current proportion of failed tanks within each group. By using plans such as these, unbiased estimates of the survival function for each group can be computed. This thesis provides a framework for developing a long term inspection and maintenance program

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http://archive.org/details/andaptiveinspect109457855

Lieutenant, United States Navy