Testing Policies and Key Influences on Long-Term Aircraft Fleet Management Using Designed Simulation Experiments
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Authors
Marlow, David
Sanchez, Susan M.
Sanchez, Paul J.
Subjects
Advisors
Date of Issue
2019
Date
Publisher
MORS
Language
Abstract
We apply a designed simulation experiment approach to a model of a fleet of military aircraft. The model represents a fleet of naval combat helicopters over its life and includes flying rates, all types of maintenance, and embarked and ashore components. The fleet aims to achieve ongoing flying requirements embarked and ashore while also achieving a balanced load of flying hours across the fleet and for each aircraft. We test six types of fleet management policies within the model, relating to the allocation of flying rates and maintenance effort, cross-training of maintainers, sharing resources between colocated squadrons, and two policy heuristics for achieving fleet management goals and requirements. We also include a number of input variables (i.e., factors) regarding flying rates and the unknown failure rates and repair times associated with unscheduled maintenance. The simulation experiment thus incorporates continuous and discrete factors, as well as categorical factors for the six fleet management policy types. We demonstrate the power of the simulation experimental design approach in revealing not just the key factors and policies, but the extent of their relative influence. This allows us to advise fleet managers where to direct their focus to obtain best performance over a fleet life.
Type
Article
Description
The article of record as published may be found at https://doi.org/10.5711/1082598324305
Series/Report No
Department
Operations Research (OR)
Organization
Naval Postgraduate School (U.S.)
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NPS Report Number
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Funder
Format
22 p.
Citation
Marlow, David, Susan M. Sanchez, and Paul J. Sanchez. "Testing Policies and Key Influences on Long-Term Aircraft Fleet Management Using Designed Simulation Experiments." Military Operations Research 24.3 (2019): 5-26.
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This publication is a work of the U.S. Government as defined in Title 17, United States Code, Section 101. Copyright protection is not available for this work in the United States.