A Value Operations Methodology (VOM) Approach to Usage Driven Maintenance

Maintenance of aircraft components is mostly executed based on a fixed and predefined schedule throughout a fleet. The schedule is derived from a design spectrum and failure data that is unknown to an operator. Historical usage of an individual component is not taken into account. In this research, a usage driven maintenance framework is proposed to add value to the maintenance process, in the context of Value Operations Methodology (VOM). The loads on critical components of the aircraft resulting from actual usage combined with component specific failure mechanisms are used to determine the damage on a component. Maintenance is executed when damage exceeds a certain threshold. This usage driven maintenance framework adds value to the maintenance process, as unnecessary maintenance is reduced. A maintenance framework is created for the case of the Lycoming T-55 engine of the Boeing CH-47 Chinook helicopter. Historical usage and maintenance data of different operational conditions is used to describe the failure mechanisms of the most critical components of the engine. The results show that by introducing the proposed usage driven concept life-cycle maintenance cost in the case of the T-55 engine can be reduced by 20% while availability is also increased, thereby increasing overall operational value.

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