Identification and evaluation of the potentials of Prognostics and Health Management in future civil aircraft

Abstract

After the stepwise implementation of health management systems in form of diagnostic on-board maintenance sys-tems in the latest generation of aircraft (e.g. AiRTHM (Air-bus Real-Time Health Monitoring) – Airbus, AIMS (Air-plane Information Management System) – Boeing, AHEAD (Aircraft Health Analysis and Diagnosis) – Embraer) and other technical equipment such as jet engines (Engine Con-dition Monitoring – MTU, Performance Based Logistics – GE) or trains (Remote Condition Monitoring – Future Rail-way), the pressure is high for an evolution of this technolo-gy. Integrated Vehicle Health Management (IVHM) repre-sents a set of capabilities that enable sustainable and safe operation of components and subsystems within aerospace platforms. [Rajamani, 2013]. The next step in IVHM is the ability to give prognoses on the Remaining Useful Life (RUL) of a system or component and the structure of the aircraft. This approach is covered in the term “Prognostics and Health Management” (PHM). PHM in this context consists of Integrated Systems Health Management (ISHM) and Structural Health Monitoring (SHM). To put that step into practice in an industrial environment, it is inevitable to weigh up costs vs. benefits in a Cost-Benefit Analysis (CBA). This trade-off is subject of the following investiga-tion. A methodology is presented with which it is possible to evaluate PHM on aircraft level and examples are given to show its applicability. The study shows that, under the as-sumptions made, a PHM system can benefit the design and operation of future civil aircraft. The dimensioning of struc-tures can be modified, maintenance processes adjusted, system reliability, aircraft availability and safety increased. With the help of the results presented herein and further in-depth studies of the aircraft structures/systems of interest, a sufficiently well-founded evaluation of the possible costs and benefits of the implementation of this advanced ap-proach on the PHM technology can be performed.