Route to Condition Based Maintenance in the Commercial Aviation Industry—Developments in Operational Monitoring

Abstract

In order to have more efficient maintenance, reduce down time and optimize fleet operation, Airframe Structural Health Monitoring targets progressive solutions with the ultimate objective to offer structural Condition Based Maintenance. Enablers will be SHM-sensors, operational monitoring and automation. Collaboration will be key between aircraft manufacturers, operators, maintenance and repair organisations, airworthiness authorities, scientific institutes and the standardization bodies. The development of operational monitoring will enable maintaining the airframes when needed, thanks to the knowledge of individual aircraft usage, data exploitation and digital twins. This paper predominantly puts the focus on the operational monitoring aspect of Structural Health Monitoring.