Improving Knowledge Capture, Access, and Reuse by a Model-Based and Data-Driven Management Using the Example of Aviation’s Retrofit

Abstract The retrofit of aircraft - the design and installation of new cabins into existing planes, comes with challenges, particularly regarding access to the necessary information. Although aircraft are generally similar, each single one becomes unique over time due to its individual usage and maintenance. While certification requires the changes made to be documented, this is typically done through numerous individual documents that are differentiated by domain, area within the aircraft, revision, and other factors that lead to a fragmentation of information. Engineers rely on implicit knowledge gained from years of experience and common knowledge as well as established structures like the ATA-Chapters, to tediously re-join these fragments and gain an overview of the current state of the aircraft and the relevant documents. This work presents an approach that utilizes ontologies to capture implicit knowledge and combines it with system models defining generic information as well as the definitions of standards that are identical for certain types of aircraft. A web application that functions as an access system is introduced to help engineers filter and identify required information and documents more easily when planning a new cabin. Finally, together with a partner from the industry, this approach is applied to a case study.