The Vehicle Heath Management System tracks the usage of selected aircraft components throughout their useful lives. Parts usage is computed for each aircraft operation and applied to parts in the maintenance management system. The aircraft configuration information correctly allocates the actual usage to the installed parts. Several usage indicators (flight hours, landing cycles, calendar time) may be applied against each tracked component. Usage indicators may be categorized as either operational or structural, but they are tracked against parts in the same manner. Usage can be manually updated for usage accumulated outside of the normal aircraft operations, such as engine running time in a test cell.

Benefits and Features

• Studies show up to 20% accuracy improved over pilot logged and weight off wheels flight time

• Vehicle Health Management System accurately records "flight time" for each airframe

• Ability to define "flight time" for specific missions

• Reduce cost and avoid unneeded replacements

• Automatically inserts data into operators Maintenance Management Systems

Typical Usage Metrics

• Weight off wheels

• Engine time

• Rotor time

• Engine cycles

• Landing cycles

Structural Usage Processing

Structural usage processing is a means of determining life usage to the airframe structural components. Regime recognition and structural usage accumulation recognizes that different flight maneuvers and operations can produce different amounts of damage to a part. This approach provides a more accurate measure of the remaining life of a component than if using flight hours alone. This is analogous to the operational usage indicators typically used for the dynamic components of the aircraft. Structural usage indicators are determined through algorithms based upon the aircraft conditions (e.g. weight, configuration, etc.) and flight maneuvers undertaken during any given flight. Goodrich is currently working with Helicopter Original Equipment Manufacturer 's (OEM) and airworthiness authorities to provide structural usage benefits to operators.

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