A Decision Support Tool For The Economic Impact Assessment Of Structural Health Monitoring Systems In Composite Rotorcraft Elements

Abstract

Structural Health Monitoring Systems (SHMS) allow an on-line monitoring of the rotorcraft’s structure, with the advantage to reduce the effort for maintenance. However, their impact on the lifecycle is still unclear. In this work, a methodology to assess the economic impact of SHMS is presented, and it is divided in four steps: (i) identification of SHMS application; (ii) SHMS performance assessment; (iii) integration of SHMS in the lifecy-cle; (iv) Economic impact assessment. Such methodology is applied to two different lifecycle stages of a com-posite rotorcraft blade: Beginning Of Life (BOL), concerning the development of a new sensorized element, and Middle Of Life (MOL), concerning the usage and maintenance of the component. It was found that in the BOL stage, SHMS can potentially provide economic benefits if the SHMS allows reducing the number of curing cycles and tested blades below a certain threshold. In the MOL, it was found that the saving of the manpower allowed by the SHMS is compensated by a higher cost of the spare parts, and the higher repairing time.