Page 23 - AAA SEPTEMBER - OCOTBER 2017 Online Magazine

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MRO FEA TURE DIGIT AL TECHNOL OG

detect the same potential fault on an entire
fleet, helping to drastically reduce the
chance of AOG for airlines, which can cost an
airline up to US$150,000 an hour.
Additive Manufacturing
One of the most important result of the
ongoing digital transformation is 3D
printing (additive manufacturing). Continued
integration of this technology could turn the
shipment of aircraft parts into an electronic
exchange of 3D printing blueprints. Although
the technology is still in its initial phases,
digital mock-up (DMU) and shows them the technology as a new way of inspecting adoption on a major scale has incredible
exact position for the bracket. The overall process of its Airbus A320s, and it’s taken implications for the industry.
processing time for bracket installation has to using these unmanned aircraft to check Airbus has just completed for the first
been reduced by 30 per cent while achieving for lightning damage to incoming planes. In time the installation of a titanium 3D-printed
‘right-first-time’ quality. order to get a detailed visibility on cracks bracket on an in-series production A350
AR is just one of a number of emerging and be able to plan better for replacing the XWB. The bracket is part of the aircraft
technologies that is transforming the way runways, Atlanta airport is using drones to pylon, the junction section between wings
airlines perform maintenance, repair and help with runway maintenance. A process and engines. 3D-printed parts are already
overhaul. Recently at the Farnborough that has been taking up to five hours and a flying on some of Airbus A320neo and A350
Airshow, Airbus utilized an Unmanned Aerial deployment of an entire team to assess the XWB test aircraft. These include metal
Vehicle (UAV) to perform a visual inspection runway wear and tear, is now getting done in printed cabin brackets and bleed pipes.
of an A350 XWB. The UAV or drone, was half the time. Thus, allowing the runways to The changes being brought in through
equipped with a high-definition camera and be open for a longer time. digital transformation in areas like machine
took a series of pictures of the upper part of learning, autonomous production, and the
the aircraft while following a predetermined Data Driven industrial internet of things (IIoT), promise
flight path. A human operator piloted the UAV. With digital technology accelerating at an to be even more disruptive and drive further
Using this technology, the images incredible speed, a vast amount of data is change than what the manufacturing
obtained, especially those showing collected through IoT sensors in modern industry has experienced in the last
scratches, dents and painting defects, are aircraft fleet. MROs are therefore in a two decades. Maintenance delays and
then compiled in a 3D digital model, recorded position to use these analytics to produce unexpected downtime are a heavy financial
in a database and analysed. This data then outcome-focused recommendations burden to the airline industry. Therefore,
helps improve traceability, prevention for operations and maintenance. This is embracing the next-generation technology is
and reduction of damage. This innovative prescriptive maintenance. It adds the ability the only alternative the industry has, in order
tool helps reducing the aircraft downtime to give advice to the technician on what to do to safeguard a business from the effects of
for inspection significantly. While the and how to do the repair by taking advantage delaying digital transformation.
conventional method for data acquisition of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine
took two hours, the use of drone reduced the learning. Although in its early stages, it has
time frame to 10 to 15 minutes, the potential to become maintenance best
“The use of this new technology practices.
offers better working conditions including Bombardier C-Series jetliner is also fitted
improving the safety and comfort for the with 5,000 sensors that generate up to 10 opposite pAge: AR is already
quality inspectors”, said Nathalie Ducombeau, GB of data per second. A single twin-engine transforming the way airplanes are
Airbus head of quality. Operators no longer aircraft with an average 12-hour flight-time manufactured and overhauled. The
need to go up on a telescopic handler to can produce up to 844 TB of data. During picture shows Airbus’ MiRA tool
perform the visual inspection, sometimes in the 1980s, the number of detectable faults aiding in the production of A350
XWB fuselage shells
poor weather conditions. In addition, picture on a Boeing 767 was 9,000. Now, intelligent
analysis can be done anytime afterwards and sensors on a Boeing 787 can detect 45,000 top: The rapid growth of digital
in an office. Aircraft visual inspections are an faults, five times as many as the rate 30 years technology and vast amount of
important part of the production process. It ago. Aircraft Health Monitoring System, data collected by onboard sensors
in aircraft and systems will
is part of the Airbus quality standards. driven by IoT, has the added benefit of being dramatically transform how MROs
EasyJet too began limited use of this able to analyse data from one aircraft to do business
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