The figures are stark: an Airbus A320, first introduced in 1988, is built to generate approximately 400 parameters (or pieces) of data per flight. As the technological potential for data generation and dissection has increased over the years, this figure has increased to 1,500 parameters for the A330, 250,000 parameters for the A380 and to around 400,000 parameters for the most recent A350, representing a total 99,900 percent uplift in data transmission. Similarly, whereas the older Boeing aircraft produced in the low thousands of parameters of data per flight, this figure has risen markedly as newer models have rolled off the production line. Today, the B787 creates (give or take) 500 gigabytes – or 100 high definition films – of data per flight, and it is anticipated that the B777X, once in service, will generate a terabyte of data per flight (equivalent to the storage space on 1,498 CD-ROM disks).
Not only is this immense increase in data generation set to continue, but its applicability will likely experience a dramatic upturn in the years to come – whereas technically advanced aircraft currently represent about 10 percent of the global fleet, this is due to increase to 50 percent in the next 10 years. In turn, the possibilities will become ever greater for 'predictive maintenance' – the ability for operators to utilise data to detect early, and even pre-empt, aircraft maintenance issues, thereby saving time and potentially vast sums of money.
Meanwhile, blockchain technology and its possible revolutionary application to aircraft maintenance has been increasingly discussed of late. At its simplest, a blockchain is a type of distributed ledger that allows for data to be recorded, maintained and securely shared simultaneously by multiple interested parties. When applied in the aircraft maintenance context, there is a growing feeling that blockchain could be used to far more effectively record the service, repair, inspection and maintenance status of an aircraft, in what could well be a paradigm shift for the entire aviation sector.
Source: Digitalisation World
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