Condition-Based Maintenance in Aviation: Challenges and Opportunities

Journal article (2023)

Authors

W.J.C. Verhagen Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology University
Bruno F. Santos Air Transport & Operations - Aerospace Engineering
Floris Freeman KLM Royal Dutch Airlines
Paul van Kessel KLM Royal Dutch Airlines
D. Zarouchas Structural Integrity & Composites - Aerospace Engineering
Theodoros Loutas University of Patras
R.C.K. Yeun Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology University
I. Heiets Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology University
Research Group
Air Transport & Operations (Aerospace Engineering) (TU Delft)
Copyright: © 2023 W.J.C. Verhagen, Bruno F. Santos, Floris Freeman, Paul van Kessel, D. Zarouchas, Theodoros Loutas, R.C.K. Yeun, I. Heiets
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/aerospace10090762
More Info
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Published Date

2023

Language

English

Faculty

Aerospace Engineering

Department

Control & Operations

Research Group

Air Transport & Operations

Abstract

Condition-Based Maintenance (CBM) is a policy that uses information about the health condition of systems and structures to identify optimal maintenance interventions over time, increasing the efficiency of maintenance operations. Despite CBM being a well-established concept in academic research, the practical uptake in aviation needs to catch up to expectations. This research aims to identify challenges, limitations, solution directions, and policy implications related to adopting CBM in aviation. We use a generalizable and holistic assessment framework to achieve this aim, following a process-oriented view of CBM development as an aircraft lifecycle management policy. Based on various inputs from industry and academia, we identified several major sets of challenges and suggested three primary solution categories. These address data quantity and quality, CBM implementation, and the integration of CBM with future technologies, highlighting future research and practice directions.