Optimization of Preventive Maintenance to Maximize the Availability of Aircraft under Resource Constraints

doi:10.23940/ijpe.23.11.p7.762770

Abstract

Abstract: The object of the research work was to evolve a methodology to maximize the availability of aircraft. Analysis of repairable systems, including the selection of critical systems, the goodness of fit tests, and optimization of preventive maintenance, was formulated. The rotables that underwent periodic preventive maintenance and preventive replacement, contributing towards major downtime of aircraft were investigated for scope of improvement to maximize availability. The applicability and suitability of data were tested and validated. Estimation of parameters was carried out using Crow’s Maximum Likelihood Estimator. The optimized preventive maintenance model was implemented on one of the aircraft fleets. The proposed methodology of optimizing the preventive maintenance, mean time between failure, and forecast of critical rotables was found effective and resulted in significant improvement in the availability of the aircraft.

Key words: aircraft maintenance, availability, preventive maintenance, resource constraints

Om Prakash Bohrey and A. S. Chatpalliwar. Optimization of Preventive Maintenance to Maximize the Availability of Aircraft under Resource Constraints [J]. Int J Performability Eng, 2023, 19(11): 762-770.

Add to citation manager EndNote|Reference Manager|ProCite|BibTeX|RefWorks

References

[1] Gavranis, A. and Kozanidis, G.An Exact Solution Algorithm for Maximizing the Fleet Availability of a Unit of Aircraft Subject to Flight and Maintenance Requirements. European Journal of Operational Research, vol. 242, no. 2, pp. 631-643, 2015.
[2] Bajestani, M.A. and Beck, J.C.Scheduling a Dynamic Aircraft Repair Shop with Limited Repair Resources. Journal of Artificial Intelligence Research, vol. 47, pp. 35-70, 2013.
[3] Barabady J.Improvement of system availability using reliability and maintainability analysis (Doctoral dissertation, Luleå tekniska universitet), 2005.
[4] Lowas III, A.F. and Ciarallo, F.W. Reliability and Operations: Keys to Lumpy Aircraft Spare Parts Demands. Journal of Air Transport Management, vol. 50, pp. 30-40, 2016.
[5] Ghobbar, A.A. and Friend, C.H.Sources of Intermittent Demand for Aircraft Spare Parts Within Airline Operations. Journal of Air Transport Management, vol. 8, no. 4, pp. 221-231, 2002.
[6] Raju V.R.S., Gandhi, O.P., and Deshmukh, S.G. Maintenance, Repair, and Overhaul Performance Indicators for Military Aircraft. Defence Science Journal, vol. 62, no. 2, pp. 83-89, 2012.
[7] Mil-Hdbk-189. Reliability Growth Management. In Headquarters, US Army Communication Research and Development Command. Fort Monmouth, NJ: A’ITN: DRDCO-PT, Department of Defense, pp. 68-72, 1981.
[8] Crow L.H.Evaluating the Reliability of Repairable Systems. InAnnual proceedings on reliability and maintainability symposium, IEEE, pp. 275-279, 1990.
[9] Morris, W., White, N. and Ebeling, C.Analysis of Shuttle Orbiter Reliability and Maintainability Data for Conceptual Studies. InSpace Programs and Technologies Conference, pp. 4245, 1996.
[10] Arasan, J. and Ehsani, S.Modeling Repairable System Failures with Interval Failure Data and Time Dependent Covariate. Journal of Modern Applied Statistical Methods, vol. 10, no. 2, pp. 19, 2011.
[11] Coetzee J.L.The Role of NHPP Models in the Practical Analysis of Maintenance Failure Data. Reliability Engineering & System Safety, vol. 56, no. 2, pp. 161-168, 1997.
[12] Mani, V. and Sarma, V.V.S. Queuing Network Models for Aircraft Availability and Spares Management. IEEE transactions on reliability, vol. 33, no. 3, pp. 257-262, 1984.
[13] Zhang, F. and Jardine, A.K.Optimal Maintenance Models with Minimal Repair, Periodic Overhaul and Complete Renewal. IIE transactions, vol. 30, no. 12, pp. 1109-1119, 1998.
[14] Ebeling C.E.An introduction to reliability and maintainability engineering. Waveland Press, 2019.
[15] Jardine A.K.S. Maintenance, Replacement, and Reliability, Sir Issac Pitman and Sons Ltd, London, 1973.
[16] Corvaro F., Giacchetta G., Marchetti B., andRecanati, M. Reliability, Availability, Maintainability (RAM) Study, on Reciprocating Compressors API 618. Petroleum, vol. 3, no. 2, pp. 266-272, 2017.
[17] Asjad M., Kulkarni M.S., andGandhi O.P.An Insight to Availability for O&M Support of Mechanical Systems. International Journal of Productivity and Quality Management, vol. 16, no. 4, pp. 462-472, 2015.
[18] de Pater, I. and Mitici, M. Predictive Maintenance for Multi-Component Systems of Repairables with Remaining-Useful-Life Prognostics and a Limited Stock of Spare Components. Reliability Engineering & System Safety, vol. 214, pp. 107761, 2021.
[19] Bluvband Z., Porotsky S., andYang L.Replacement Interval Optimization for Aircraft Maintenance. In2015 Annual Reliability and Maintainability Symposium (RAMS), IEEE, pp. 1-7, 2015.
[20] Subash, K. and Vijayaraja, K.Optimization of Aircraft Maintenance Downtime by Harmonizing Life of Components During Major Overhaul. International Journal of Engineering Sciences & Research Technology, vol. 6, no. 7, pp. 692-701, 2017.
[21] Thawkar A., Tambe P., andDeshpande V.A Reliability Centred Maintenance Approach for Assessing the Impact of Maintenance for Availability Improvement of Carding Machine. International Journal of Process Management and Benchmarking, vol. 8, no. 3, pp. 318-339, 2018.
[22] Kumar, S. and Singh, R.Rank Order Clustering and Imperialist Competitive Optimization Based Cost and RAM Analysis on Different Industrial Sectors. Journal of Manufacturing Systems, vol. 56, pp. 514-524, 2020.
[23] Soltanali, H., Garmabaki, A.H.S., Thaduri, A., Parida, A., Kumar, U., and Rohani, A. Sustainable Production Process: An Application of Reliability, Availability, and Maintainability Methodologies in Automotive Manufacturing. Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Part O: Journal of Risk and Reliability, vol. 233, no. 4, pp. 682-697, 2019.
[24] Senturk C., Kavsaoglu M.S., andNikbay M.Optimization of Aircraft Utilization by Reducing Scheduled Maintenance Downtime. In10th AIAA Aviation Technology, Integration, and Operations (ATIO) Conference, pp. 9143, 2010.
[25] Jiang D., Cui W., Wan F., Han Y., Wang X., andJiang C.Sensitivity Analysis and Reliability Optimization Method Based on Aircraft Cabin Door Lock Mechanism. In 2022 Global Reliability and Prognostics and Health Management (PHM-Yantai), IEEE
pp. 1-7, 2022.
[26] Tseremoglou I., van Kessel, P.J., and Santos, B.F. A Comparative Study of Optimization Models for Condition-Based Maintenance Scheduling of an Aircraft Fleet. Aerospace, vol. 10, no. 2, pp. 120, 2023.
[27] Rai, R.N. and Sharma, G.Goodness-of-Fit Test for Generalised Renewal Process.International Journal of Reliability and Safety
vol. 11, no.1-2, pp. 116-131, 2017.