Introduction

Integrated Vehicle Health Management (IVHM) is a relatively new subject, with its roots back in the space sector of the early 1990s. Although many of the papers written around that time did not refer to it as IVHM, the fundamental principles of considering an integrated end-to-end system to monitor the overall health of the asset were clearly visible. As the subject of Integrated Vehicle Health Management (IVHM) and its associated technologies have grown up, businesses are making the transformation from selling a product to selling a service. This can be viewed as a positive disruption, as a relatively small technology breakthrough is being brought to market for a large business benefit. The sequence “sense—acquire—transfer—analyze—act “ feeds the information (processed data) on the asset’s health into the Operations or Management control center. Here, decisions can be made on maintenance actions with knowledge of the supply chain status, MRO loading, etc., provided by Maintenance and Logistics systems. Undoubtedly, a much more efficient and economical modus operandi. This book brings together a collection of twenty –two SAE International Technical papers on this very theme, organized according to specific areas of interest: • Engines • Airframes • Electrical Power Systems • Supporting Systems • Architecture They were selected by Dr. Ian K. Jennions, Director of IVHM Center at Cranfield University, in the UK. Dr. Jennions was also the editor of three other books on Integrated Vehicle Health Management, published by SAE International: • IVHM: Perspectives on an Emerging Field • IVHM: Business Case Theory and Practice • IVHM: The Technology