The French Armed Forces Ministry has launched a new study to improve military helicopter engines maintenance operations using ‘big data’.
Named Données de maintenance Moteur Innovante (Dominno), the €2m study would support the ministry’s aviation maintenance, repair and overhaul operations (MRO) launched in December last year.
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The French Directorate-General for Armaments (DGA) has awarded a contract to Safran Helicopter Engines for the Dominno or innovative engine maintenance data study, which will continue for 25 months.
The study has been designed to use latest monitoring technology in order to develop a ‘predictive maintenance’ of military helicopter turboshaft engines.
The challenge faced is to have required tools that would help collect data on the use of the engine and its health from existing or new sensors, and then to exploit it through ‘big data’ technologies. The project will eventually adapt maintenance operations based on the state of the engine.
The Dominno project will recognise the data to be collected and their modes of transmission, define the monitoring architecture, and create the first algorithms with high added value.
This will eventually help reduce the number of scheduled engine removals to carry out audits and inspections.
The Dominno study plays a major part in the 2019-2025 Military Program Law.
Maintenance through innovation also plays a significant role in the transformation of the aviation MRO.
The Dominno project will help enhance the operational availability of the turboshaft engines while managing support costs.
