EMBRAER Perspective on the Challenges for the Introduction of Scheduled SHM (S-SHM) Applications into Commercial Aviation Maintenance Programs

This paper presents an overview of the challenges an original equipment manufacturer (OEM) such EMBRAER may face to introduce scheduled structural health monitoring (S-SHM) applications in the maintenance programs of its commercial aviation aircraft models. S-SHM solutions have the potential to reduce aircraft operators direct maintenance costs and fleet downtime while keeping aircraft airworthiness at a minimum maintenance downtime and costs. As part of new approach in terms of scheduled maintenance practices, the replacement or complementation of traditional structural inspections tasks by new maintenance procedures taking credit of SHM technologies must be done in ways that meet the expectations and requirements of Regulatory Authorities, OEMs and airlines maintenance and engineering departments related to topics such as: safety, continued airworthiness, cost/benefits ratio, S-SHM systems built-in redundancies and reliability to support higher fleet availability, as well as necessary mechanics qualification. Besides the efforts for validation, verification, qualification and certification of such systems to deliver the expected effectiveness levels to verify structural integrity and withstanding the operational conditions to which it will be exposed, an OEM intended to offer their customers with the benefits of S-SHM solutions will be required initially to revise its policy and procedures handbooks (PPH) to adopt the new S-SHM Air Transport Associations Maintenance Steering Group 3 (MSG-3) Methodology guidelines. This will alter in different ways the current Maintenance Review Board processes conducted by each OEM to develop and revise the minimum scheduled maintenance program for a given commercial aircraft type certificate. The contents of the Maintenance Review Board Reports (MRB) will need to be revised in order to clearly indicate the scope and frequencies of each approved S-SHM task, and how they will replace, complement and/or be an alternative means of compliance of the more traditional maintenance tasks types such as general and detailed visual inspections (GVI and DET, respectively). Additionally, the Airplane Maintenance Manuals (AMM) will need to be revised to include specific S-SHM procedures on how to perform the intended inspection, how to proceed when degradation is detected in the monitored structures and how to repair such systems in case of failures.