A Data-Driven Health Assessment Method for Electromechanical Actuation Systems

Abstract

The design of health assessment applications for the electromechanical actuation system of the aircraft is a challenging task. Physics-of-failure models involve non-linear complex equations which are further complicated at the system-level. Data-driven techniques require run-to-failure tests to predict the remaining useful life. However, components are not allowed to run until failure in the aerospace engineering arena. Besides, when adding new monitoring elements for an improved health assessment, the airliner sets constraints due to the increased cost and weight. In this context, the health assessment of the electromechanical actuation system is a challenging task. In this paper we propose a data-driven approach which estimates the health state of the system without runto-failure data and limited health information. The approach combines basic reliability theory with Bayesian concepts and obtained results show the feasibility of the technique for asset health assessment.