IVHM (Integrated Vehicle Health Management) techniques for future space vehicles

State-of-the-art in integrated vehicle health management

“…One of the earliest criticisms of IVHM was the possibility false alarms and other IVHM induced problems, such as sensor failures. These criticisms were supported by reported cases of inadequate or faulty sensors which caused premature termination of components or failure to detect faults in critical structures [12]. The costs and benefits of IVHM are directly related to how early in the design it is considered [5], [11], [27] and this requires a significant change in the way vehicle systems are designed [36].…”

“…An important feature of IVHM is that health information must be used as part of the maintenance planning process instead of merely being processed and archived for later use. This distinguishes health management from health monitoring [12], [13].…”

“…Baroth et al [12] give an overview of the leading applications across the automotive, space, military and commercial aviation sectors while Janasak and Behshears [2] discuss health management systems available for consumer products, including both vehicle and non-vehicle systems. Similarly, Reichard et al [7] provide a list of military projects in which the vehicle health information is incorporated within automated logistics systems.…”

“…Different authors have developed their own integration platforms for specific engineering environments, yet it is agreed that the open system architecture is an effective way to reduce costs, improve portability and increase competition in the market for IVHM solutions [40]. Future research challenges in the IVHM literature: Future research is suggested to leverage IVHM technology development across industrial sectors and organisations [12]. Bespoke methodologies are also required for the conceptual design stage to identify whether and how IVHM applications can be cost-effective [26] and the level of implementation that is most appropriate for the product or business [27].…”

“…Performing overhauls and replacements on-condition will maximise asset life [5], [34] and can also reduce wasteful removals of serviceable components due to the improved ability to isolate faults [3], [29]. There is a strong emphasis in the literature on the reduction of maintenance costs as one of the main drivers for IVHM [1], [6], [12], [19], [34]. While safety benefits of IVHM are also recognised, few authors see this as the ultimate goal of IVHM [8], [15], [35].…”