Prognostics of Electrical Wiring Interconnect Systems Using Precise Automated Testing at Phase Maintenance

Abstract

This paper describes the successful application of the Department of Defense (DoD) ATS Automatic Wire Test Set (AWTS) into Phase Maintenance obtaining optimal readiness for weapon systems. The guideline for implementation is the DoD Standard Practice MIL-STD-1798C Mechanical Equipment and Subsystems Integrity Program. The goal of this integrity program is to achieve the desired level of safety and aircraft availability at the most economic cost across the life cycle of the weapon system. The Phase Maintenance process consists of inspections and the necessary repairs resulting from the inspections. These events are generally scheduled based upon a prescribed number of flight hours. This paper addresses the Electrical Wiring Interconnect Systems (EWIS) integrity requirements in the DoD Standard Practice and the current Phase Maintenance elements with and without the use of the Automatic Wire Test Set. Issues addressed are inspection methods, data collection and analysis for trend and predictive algorithm development, schedule time impacts, accuracy of inspections, human inspection errors/consistency, and cost considerations. Case studies based upon recent integration of AWTS with end users in the field to support maintenance and troubleshooting of EWIS predominantly on aircraft are presented to demonstrate efficacy as related to the issues of inspection and repair.