Effectiveness of Condition Based Maintenance in Army Aviation

Technology has significantly enhanced our ability to detect and monitor the health and condition of critical components in Army aviation. By combining these technological advances with the existing systems for vibration analysis, we have developed a maintenance management program based on the health condition of the components rather than time-driven inspections and replacements. One vibration analysis program, the Health Usage and Management System (HUMS), developed for the UH-60 Blackhawk, was examined in this study. The purpose of this thesis is to determine whether Condition Based Maintenance (CBM) provides a distinct advantage over phase or time-driven inspections and component replacement in Army Aviation. To answer this question we have identified a series of metrics to assess the efficiency and usefulness of CBM. During the analysis portion of this study we examined two assault helicopter battalions, one HUMS-equipped and one without, and applied these metrics. This study determined that HUMS does provide an advantage in flight hours completed and operational readiness rates, coupled with a marginal decrease in hours of non-mission capable for maintenance reported. While this thesis also found an increase in efficiency in dollars spent per operational flight hour, the data set was too small to draw major conclusions. Recommendations for further study include incorporating this new system into failure mode identification and improved maintenance procedures.