THE USE OF NON-PARAMETRIC STATISTICAL TOOLS TO ASSESS RELIABILITY AND AVAILABILITY DRIVERS

摘要

A propulsion system reliability data base covering eight years of service of the F/A-18 E/F aircraft was used to trial application of statistical tools for lifetime analysis of naval aviation propulsion systems, the F414-GE-400 in this case. The focus of this analysis was the records of engine removal & replacement, specifically unplanned removals, as a major limitation to aircraft availability and a driver for maintenance cost. It was established that classical non-parametric tools were most appropriate and useful for analysis and presentation of actionable information. This information was seen to be useful to guide "O"-Level maintenance and logistics, and as a supplement to the chronological trending of rates and time on wing presently used to monitor propulsion system reliability and availability. The results illuminated the impact of the Navy's active management of aircraft engine reliability through maintenance process improvement and configuration change to achieve acceptable levels of aircraft availability. Note: This material was previously presented at SAE AeroTech in September 2007.