Comprehensive maintenance management system for on-condition maintenance of aero-engine

Abstract

The invention belongs to the field of aircraft maintenance, and particularly relates to a comprehensive maintenance management system for on-condition maintenance of an aero-engine. The system comprises a database used for storing historical data of an engine; the PHM module is used for generating engine state evaluation according to the engine state information and engine historical data; the RCM module is used for generating preventive maintenance suggestions according to historical data of the engine; the maintenance management unit is used for generating a maintenance decision according to engine historical data, engine state evaluation and preventive maintenance suggestions; the IETM module is used for calling a maintenance program or a troubleshooting program according to the maintenance decision, and is also used for generating maintenance resume information according to an engine maintenance result; the guarantee resource management module is used for generating guarantee resource information according to the maintenance decision; and the maintenance management unit is also used for generating maintenance evaluation information according to the maintenance decision, the maintenance resume information and the guarantee resource information, and updating historical data of the engine.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This application belongs to the field of aircraft maintenance, and particularly relates to an integrated maintenance management system for condition-based maintenance of aero-engines. Background Art

[0002] Equipment maintenance is a key factor in maintaining, restoring, and even enhancing mission capabilities, and plays an increasingly important role in the exertion of system effectiveness and the guarantee of military and economic benefits. In recent years, the application demand for condition-based maintenance in the field of military aero-engines has been increasing day by day. With its significant advantages, condition-based maintenance has become the focus of attention in the field of equipment use and maintenance, and is also a hot issue in the research of maintenance theory and application.

[0003] Aero-engines are highly complex electromechanical equipment. In order to efficiently carry out condition-based maintenance management for them, an integrated maintenance management system for condition-based maintenance is required. However, the maintenance information provided by most maintenance management systems can only make decisions based on the instructions of design and manufacturing units or the maintenance experience of similar equipment, and cannot make decisions based on the health status and operating conditions of the equipment; the maintenance management system mainly focuses on the management of the maintenance operation process, and all work is carried out according to the existing regulations, lacking functions such as maintenance optimization based on the engine status and support resource planning.

[0004] Therefore, it is desirable to have a technical solution to overcome or at least mitigate at least one of the above-mentioned defects of the prior art. Summary of the Invention

[0005] The purpose of this application is to provide an integrated maintenance management system for condition-based maintenance of aero-engines to solve at least one problem existing in the prior art.

[0006] The technical solution of this application is as follows: An integrated maintenance management system for condition-based maintenance of aero-engines, comprising: A maintenance management module, which includes a database and a maintenance management unit; The database is used to store engine historical data; A PHM module, which is used to obtain engine status information and generate an engine status evaluation according to the engine status information and the engine historical data; An RCM module, which is used to generate preventive maintenance suggestions according to the engine historical data; The maintenance management unit is used to generate maintenance decisions according to the engine historical data, the engine status evaluation, and the preventive maintenance suggestions; The IETM module is used to call a maintenance procedure or a troubleshooting procedure from an interactive electronic technical manual according to the maintenance decision to implement engine maintenance, and is also used to generate maintenance history information according to the engine maintenance result; The support resource management module is used to generate support resource information according to the maintenance decision; The maintenance management unit is further used to generate maintenance evaluation information according to the maintenance decision, the maintenance history information, and the support resource information, and update the engine historical data according to the maintenance evaluation information.

[0007] In at least one embodiment of the present application, the engine historical data includes historical maintenance information, fault information, FMECA information, engine supporting resource information, and engine history information.

[0008] In at least one embodiment of the present application, the PHM module generates an engine status evaluation according to the engine status information and the engine historical data, including: Extracting status variables characterizing the engine status from the engine status information; Comparing the status variables with preset status variable thresholds, and screening out abnormal status variables from the status variables; Identifying potential fault points in the engine according to the abnormal status variables and the engine historical data, and generating an engine status evaluation according to the potential fault points.

[0009] In at least one embodiment of the present application, the status variables at least include vibration, temperature, pressure, and noise.

[0010] In at least one embodiment of the present application, the RCM module generates preventive maintenance suggestions according to the engine historical data, including: Extracting fault information and FMECA information from the engine historical data; Inputting the fault information and the FMECA information into an RCM logic decision model to generate preventive maintenance suggestions.

[0011] In at least one embodiment of the present application, the maintenance management unit generates a maintenance decision according to the engine historical data, the engine status evaluation, and the preventive maintenance suggestions, including: Extracting target data from the engine historical data according to the comprehensive maintenance management objective; Based on the target data, the engine status evaluation, and the preventive maintenance suggestions, a maintenance decision is generated with the equipment failure probability as the decision basis, considering multiple factors comprehensively, including at least equipment deterioration risk, maintenance cost, safety, and production interruption impact. The maintenance decision includes the optimal maintenance time and the optimal maintenance method.

[0012] In at least one embodiment of the present application, target data is extracted from the engine historical data according to the comprehensive maintenance management objective, including: If the comprehensive maintenance management objective is to minimize the maintenance cost, the maintenance cost information is extracted from the historical maintenance information; If the comprehensive maintenance management objective is to reduce the downtime, the downtime information is extracted from the fault information; If the comprehensive maintenance management objective is to analyze the root cause of the fault, the root cause analysis information of the fault is extracted from the historical maintenance information; If the comprehensive maintenance management objective is to determine the equipment failure frequency, the equipment failure information is extracted from the fault information.

[0013] In at least one embodiment of the present application, the maintenance procedure or the troubleshooting procedure called by the IETM module is sent to the engine maintenance operator through a virtual-real interaction method.

[0014] In at least one embodiment of the present application, the support resource management module generates support resource information according to the maintenance decision, including: Constrained by the timeliness index, a combination of data-driven and support resource prediction models is used to perform support resource demand analysis according to the maintenance decision to generate support resource information.

[0015] The invention has at least the following beneficial technical effects: The comprehensive maintenance management system for condition-based maintenance of aero-engines in the present application gives full play to the advantages of condition-based maintenance, closely combines fault prediction and health management (PHM), reliability-centered maintenance (RCM), and interactive electronic technical manual (IETM) to achieve the comprehensive maintenance management of aero-engines. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0016] Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of a comprehensive maintenance management system for condition-based maintenance of aero-engines according to an embodiment of the present application; Figure 2 is a comprehensive maintenance management flow chart for condition-based maintenance of aero-engines according to an embodiment of the present application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS

[0017] To make the objectives, technical solutions, and advantages of the present application more clear, the following will describe the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present application in more detail with reference to the accompanying drawings in the embodiments of the present application. In the drawings, the same or similar reference numerals represent the same or similar elements or elements with the same or similar functions from beginning to end. The described embodiments are part of the embodiments of the present application, rather than all of the embodiments. The embodiments described below with reference to the accompanying drawings are exemplary and are intended to explain the present application, and should not be construed as a limitation to the present application. Based on the embodiments in the present application, all other embodiments obtained by those of ordinary skill in the art without creative efforts belong to the scope of protection of the present application. The following will describe the embodiments of the present application in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0018] In the description of the present application, it should be understood that the orientation or positional relationships indicated by the terms "center", "longitudinal", "transverse", "front", "rear", "left", "right", "vertical", "horizontal", "top", "bottom", "inner", "outer", etc. are based on the orientation or positional relationships shown in the accompanying drawings, and are only for the convenience of describing the present application and simplifying the description, rather than indicating or implying that the device or element referred to must have a specific orientation, be constructed and operated in a specific orientation, and therefore should not be construed as a limitation to the scope of protection of the present application.

[0019] The following will further describe the present application in detail with reference to the accompanying Figures 1 to 2 drawings.

[0020] The present application provides an integrated maintenance management system for condition-based maintenance of aero-engines, including: a maintenance management module, a PHM module, an RCM module, an IETM module, and a support resource management module.

[0021] Specifically, the maintenance management module includes a database and a maintenance management unit. The database is used to store the historical data of the engine; The PHM module is used to obtain the engine status information and generate an engine status evaluation based on the engine status information and the engine historical data; The RCM module is used to generate preventive maintenance suggestions based on the engine historical data; The maintenance management unit is used to generate a maintenance decision based on the engine historical data, the engine status evaluation, and the preventive maintenance suggestions; The IETM module is used to call a maintenance procedure or a troubleshooting procedure from an interactive electronic technical manual to implement engine maintenance according to the maintenance decision, and is also used to generate maintenance resume information based on the engine maintenance results; The support resource management module is used to generate support resource information according to the maintenance decision; The maintenance management unit is also used to generate maintenance evaluation information based on the maintenance decision, maintenance history information, and support resource information, and update the engine historical data according to the maintenance evaluation information.

[0022] In the integrated maintenance management system for condition-based maintenance of aero-engines of the present application, the database of the maintenance management module stores engine historical data, providing data support for the integrated maintenance management. The engine historical data includes data such as historical maintenance information, fault information, FMECA information, engine supporting resource information, and engine history information. In addition to recording data such as the maintenance process, spare part replacement situation, man-hours, and maintenance costs, the historical maintenance information more importantly details data such as the applicability of maintenance technology, the execution interval of maintenance tasks, root cause analysis of faults, and the mean time between failures for reliability calculation. The FMECA information is fault mode, effects, and criticality analysis information.

[0023] In the integrated maintenance management system for condition-based maintenance of aero-engines of the present application, the PHM module is used to implement the evaluation of the engine health state based on the state data. The engine state information is collected through the PHM module, and combined with the engine historical data in the database, an engine state evaluation is generated as the input of the maintenance management unit.

[0024] In the preferred embodiment of the present application, the PHM module generates an engine state evaluation based on the engine state information and the engine historical data, including: Extracting state variables representing the engine state from the engine state information; Comparing the state variables with the preset state variable thresholds, and screening out abnormal state variables from the state variables; Identifying potential fault points in the engine according to the abnormal state variables and the engine historical data, and generating an engine state evaluation based on the potential fault points.

[0025] Engine condition monitoring is the premise and foundation of condition-based maintenance. By monitoring and measuring various state variables generated during the operation of the engine, such as vibration, temperature, pressure, and noise, and comparing the measured values with the preset normal values, it is judged whether the engine is working properly. Generally, relying solely on a single engine state information to judge the engine health state is not enough. It is necessary to extract state variables through dimensionality reduction of the engine state information, combine historical maintenance information, fault information, and other data in the database, identify potential fault points, evaluate the engine health state, and provide data support for the maintenance decision.

[0026] For the integrated maintenance management system for condition-based maintenance of aero-engines in this application, the database provides the key information required for analysis to the RCM module. The RCM module conducts dynamic preventive maintenance decision-making based on the fault information and FMECA information related to the equipment and work instructions in the database, and puts forward preventive maintenance suggestions, providing data support for maintenance decision-making.

[0027] In the preferred embodiment of this application, the RCM module generates preventive maintenance suggestions based on the engine historical data, including: Extract fault information and FMECA information from the engine historical data; Input the fault information and FMECA information into the RCM logical decision-making model to generate preventive maintenance suggestions.

[0028] For the integrated maintenance management system for condition-based maintenance of aero-engines in this application, the maintenance management unit of the maintenance management module can also give maintenance decisions by using the maintenance management model, and store the final decision results in the database.

[0029] In the preferred embodiment of this application, the maintenance management unit generates maintenance decisions based on the engine historical data, engine condition assessment, and preventive maintenance suggestions, including: Extract target data from the engine historical data according to the integrated maintenance management objectives; Based on the target data, engine condition assessment, and preventive maintenance suggestions, taking the equipment failure probability as the decision basis, generate maintenance decisions by comprehensively considering various factors. The factors at least include equipment deterioration risk, maintenance cost, safety, and production interruption impact. The maintenance decisions include the optimal maintenance time and the optimal maintenance method.

[0030] Determine the information that needs to be collected and analyzed to achieve these objectives according to the integrated maintenance management objectives. For example: If the integrated maintenance management objective is to minimize the maintenance cost, extract the maintenance cost information from the historical maintenance information; If the integrated maintenance management objective is to reduce the downtime, extract the downtime information from the fault information; If the integrated maintenance management objective is fault root cause analysis, extract the fault root cause analysis information from the historical maintenance information; If the integrated maintenance management objective is to determine the equipment failure frequency, extract the equipment fault information from the fault information.

[0031] The maintenance management unit determines whether maintenance is required and when to perform maintenance based on the prediction results of the engine health status and the judgment results of the RCM module. Through comprehensive decision-making models such as Markov decision process, semi-Markov decision process, dynamic programming model, and Bayesian network model, taking the equipment failure probability as the decision basis and comprehensively considering factors such as equipment deterioration risk, maintenance cost, safety, and impact on production interruption, the optimal maintenance time and maintenance method are determined.

[0032] For the integrated maintenance management system for condition-based maintenance of aero-engines in this application, after receiving the maintenance decision, the IETM module combines the fault library and the expert library to conduct maintenance planning and fault analysis, calls the maintenance procedure or the fault troubleshooting procedure, and sends this maintenance task information to the engine maintenance operator through a virtual-real interaction method to achieve engine maintenance. The ground crew conducts work according to the maintenance procedure or the fault troubleshooting procedure given by the IETM module. Preferably, through augmented reality (AR), virtual reality (VR), desktop training and training systems, etc., the operator can be empowered quickly. After implementing the engine maintenance task, the maintenance result is fed back, the maintenance information of each component of the engine is recorded, and the maintenance history information is generated according to the engine maintenance result to support the management of maintenance history information based on a single data source.

[0033] For the integrated maintenance management system for condition-based maintenance of aero-engines in this application, the support resource management module generates support resource information according to the maintenance decision, including: taking the timeliness index as a constraint, adopting a combination of data-driven and support resource prediction models, and conducting support resource demand analysis according to the maintenance decision to generate support resource information. The logistics personnel prepare the corresponding resources from the on-site spare parts library according to the support resource information, realize the optimization of support resource allocation through the support resource information, combine the support model to give the evaluation result of the current engine state, consider tasks, faults, and support resources, and use the method of supportability simulation to realize the dynamic analysis of support effectiveness and the prediction of support resource trend to a certain extent.

[0034] For the integrated maintenance management system for condition-based maintenance of aero-engines in this application, the maintenance management unit is also used to evaluate the maintenance activities, generate maintenance evaluation information according to the maintenance decision, maintenance history information, and support resource information, and update the engine historical data in the database. Maintenance evaluation is the key to realizing dynamic maintenance support decision-making. As a management tool, the maintenance management module is in a subordinate service position and needs to provide complete and accurate data for the engine state evaluation of the PHM module and the maintenance optimization decision of the RCM module. The functions of the integrated maintenance management system are continuously adjusted according to the requirements of the PHM module and the RCM module.

[0035] The key to the integration of the PHM module, RCM module, IETM module, maintenance management module and support resource management module in the integrated maintenance management system for aircraft engines in this application is to realize interactive data. By establishing a unified data platform, the standardization and normalization of data formats are realized to avoid excessive data interfaces and conversions. This requires the PHM module, RCM module, IETM module, maintenance management module and support resource management module to be carried out simultaneously. The database provides basic data, and the PHM module uses these data to evaluate the health status of the equipment. The RCM module uses these data to optimize maintenance tasks, and the IETM module uses these data to output maintenance tasks and assist maintenance. This application uses the European full life cycle integrated support system standard S series standards to carry out the underlying system architecture design, from equipment design technical status management, use and maintenance data feedback, to use and maintenance task analysis, repair level analysis and other support analysis, to reliability-centered maintenance analysis, and finally to the management of aviation materials and spare parts and the development of technical publications, to build the lowest level system architecture.

[0036] The integrated maintenance management system for aircraft engine condition-based maintenance of this application integrates fault prediction and health management (PHM), reliability-centered maintenance (RCM), and interactive electronic technical manual (IETM) to make dynamic maintenance support decisions based on engine status and support the implementation of engine condition-based maintenance. This application implements engine health status evaluation based on engine status information, dynamic analysis of preventive maintenance recommendations, and maintenance decisions for condition-based maintenance. It also completes maintenance tasks through virtual-real interaction assistance from an expert system, and completes support effectiveness evaluation based on engine status and dynamic prediction of support resources.

[0037] The integrated maintenance management system for condition-based maintenance of aircraft engines in this application supports condition-based maintenance of aircraft engines and supports the promotion and implementation of condition-based maintenance work. It can improve the efficiency of user maintenance support, significantly reduce the support costs over the entire life cycle, and achieve agile support and agile transition.

[0038] The above is only a specific implementation of the present application, but the protection scope of the present application is not limited thereto. Any changes or substitutions that can be easily thought of by a person skilled in the art within the technical scope disclosed in the present application should be included in the protection scope of the present application. Therefore, the protection scope of the present application shall be based on the protection scope of the claims.

Claims

1. An integrated maintenance management system for aircraft engine condition-based maintenance, characterized in that: include: A maintenance management module, the maintenance management module comprising a database and a maintenance management unit; The database is used to store engine historical data; The PHM module is used to obtain engine status information and generate an engine status evaluation according to the engine status information and the engine historical data; An RCM module, for generating preventive maintenance recommendations based on the engine historical data; The maintenance management unit is used to generate a maintenance decision based on the engine historical data, the engine status evaluation and the preventive maintenance suggestion; An IETM module, used to call a maintenance program or a troubleshooting program from an interactive electronic technical manual according to the maintenance decision to implement engine maintenance, and also used to generate maintenance history information according to the engine maintenance result; A support resource management module, used for generating support resource information according to the maintenance decision; The maintenance management unit is further used to generate maintenance evaluation information according to the maintenance decision, the maintenance history information and the support resource information, and update the engine history data according to the maintenance evaluation information.

2. The integrated maintenance management system for condition-based maintenance of aircraft engines according to claim 1, characterized in that: The engine historical data includes historical maintenance information, fault information, FMECA information, engine supporting resource information and engine history information.

3. The integrated maintenance management system for condition-based maintenance of aircraft engines according to claim 2 is characterized in that: The PHM module generates an engine state evaluation according to the engine state information and the engine historical data, including: extracting a state variable representing an engine state from the engine state information; Comparing the state variable with a preset state variable threshold, and filtering out abnormal state variables from the state variable; A potential failure point in the engine is identified according to the abnormal state variable and the engine historical data, and an engine state evaluation is generated according to the potential failure point.

4. The integrated maintenance management system for condition-based maintenance of aircraft engines according to claim 3 is characterized in that: The state variables include at least vibration, temperature, pressure and noise.

5. The integrated maintenance management system for condition-based maintenance of aircraft engines according to claim 4 is characterized in that: The RCM module generates preventive maintenance suggestions based on the engine historical data, including: Extracting fault information and FMECA information from the engine historical data; The fault information and the FMECA information are input into the RCM logic decision model to generate preventive maintenance recommendations.

6. The integrated maintenance management system for condition-based maintenance of aircraft engines according to claim 5, characterized in that: The maintenance management unit generates a maintenance decision according to the engine historical data, the engine status evaluation and the preventive maintenance suggestion, including: extracting target data from the engine history data according to a comprehensive maintenance management target; According to the target data, the engine status evaluation and the preventive maintenance suggestion, a maintenance decision is generated based on a comprehensive consideration of multiple factors, taking the equipment failure probability as the decision basis. The factors include at least the risk of equipment degradation, maintenance cost, safety and the impact of production interruption. The maintenance decision includes the optimal maintenance time and the optimal maintenance method.

7. The integrated maintenance management system for condition-based maintenance of aircraft engines according to claim 6, characterized in that: Extracting target data from the engine history data according to the comprehensive maintenance management target includes: If the comprehensive maintenance management goal is to minimize maintenance costs, then extracting maintenance cost information from the historical maintenance information; If the comprehensive maintenance management goal is to reduce downtime, extracting downtime information from the fault information; If the comprehensive maintenance management target is fault root cause analysis, extracting fault root cause analysis information from the historical maintenance information; If the comprehensive maintenance management goal is to determine the equipment failure frequency, the equipment failure information is extracted from the failure information.

8. The integrated maintenance management system for condition-based maintenance of aircraft engines according to claim 7, characterized in that: The maintenance program or the troubleshooting program called by the IETM module is sent to the engine maintenance operator through virtual-real interaction.

9. The integrated maintenance management system for condition-based maintenance of aircraft engines according to claim 8, characterized in that: The support resource management module generates support resource information according to the maintenance decision, including: With timeliness index as constraint, a combination of data-driven and security resource prediction model is adopted to generate security resource information by analyzing security resource demand according to the maintenance decision.

Images