Perspectives on the commercial development of landing gear health monitoring systems

Abstract

The development of health monitoring technologies for aerospace systems creates a number of challenges for the community of engineers and technical specialists as they seek to integrate the technology into well defined working practices. These challenges do not just extend to the technical, but require a number of commercial questions to be addressed. It is of vital importance, that there is a clearly identified need for aerospace health monitoring, both from a technological and commercial viewpoint. If these needs cannot be identified, then any attempt for marketing health monitoring as a necessary future technological requirement is doomed for failure. Health monitoring technology will need to either deliver significant cost saving benefits to the aircraft operator or demonstrated increases in aircraft safety. The objective of the paper is to provide an assessment of the commercial benefits and development of aircraft landing gear health monitoring. The commercial need and challenges for health monitoring systems are explored in this paper within the context of a changing aerospace maintenance industry and the role in which new systems technology will play. The key findings of the research study are that within the aerospace industry there is a desired paradigm shift within aircraft maintenance towards offering maintenance systems with predictive capabilities. This maintenance revolution will not just incorporate new technologies, but will result in aircraft maintenance packages tailored towards individual customer requirements. The study illustrates the state-of-the-art in health monitoring currently restricts aerospace integration and a number of key technical and commercial issues need to be addressed. Predictive health monitoring offers a variety of commercially benefits for maintenance providers, aircraft operators and manufacturers. However, in order for these benefits to be realised increased transparency in maintenance related information is required between these key players.

Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul (MRO) Fundamentals and Strategies: An Aeronautical Industry Overview

“…Phillips et al [10] corroborate that maintenance forms an essential part of aircraft airworthiness criteria; its main objective is to ensure a fully serviced, operational and safe aircraft. Proper maintenance is an essential contributor to the high levels of safety experienced today; in contrast, improper maintenance can have tragic effects [13].…”

“…Phillips et al [10] explain that the record aircraft production following strong sales in 2006 and 2007, given the typical 18,000-cycle or 8-10 years between overhauls, has created an unprecedented demand for landing gear overhauls on both long and short-haul aircraft. McFadden and Worrells [11] state that the worldwide MROs have grown in response to continuous and increasing demand into a viable segment of the aviation industry.…”

“…Most major aircraft maintenance and repair work is provided by repair shops, which carry out MRO operations for the aircraft operators [10]. According to Pipame [9], 80% of MRO repair shops are small and medium enterprises.…”

“…MRO providers are expanding their geographical reach and capabilities in a bid to become regional and global full service providers [10]. …”

Formulasi Strategi Pengembangan Sumber Daya Manusia Perawatan Pesawat Terbang

“…Aircraft services merupakan salah satu unit bisnis PT DI yang memiliki tanggung jawab dalam menjalankan dan mengembangkan usaha Maintenance, Repair dan Overhaul (MRO) baik pesawat maupun komponen produk PT DI dan non PT DI MRO di pasar penerbangan adalah sebuah proses kompleks yang memiliki persyaratan ketat dan tepat untuk menjamin keselamatan penumpang dan awak pesawat (aircrew). Phillips et al (2011) (Pérezgonzález et al, 2005).…”