Structural Health Monitoring

Condition Based Maintenance

The continuous monitoring of the aircraft can result in condition based maintenance (CBM), reducing the ground time and the maintenance costs significantly.

There are various damage detection methodologies based on the intended function of the SHM system. Four levels can be defined on the damage assessment scale:

• Level1: Detection of damage existence;
• Level2: Detection of damage location;
• Level3: Characterization of damage (size and severity);
• Level4: Prognosis and the remaining useful life.

Each level of damage assessment will require a different number and location of transducers. A multi-level damage detection algorithm is developed by us which enables the engineers to chose between one or a combination of different intended functions of the SHM system to reach the required diagnosis.