Patent ID: 8396571

Claim:
A process for optimizing maintenance work schedules for at least one engine, comprising: retrieving at least one set of data for an engine from a computer readable storage medium; selecting at least one scheduling parameter for said engine; selecting a set of maintenance rules for said engine; selecting at least one maintenance work decision; selecting at least one objective for said engine; optimizing said at least one objective to generate at least one optimal maintenance work decision, said optimizing step comprising using a hierarchical multi-objective global optimization which integrates hierarchical searches with elimination criteria and with handling of constraints to evaluate said at least one objective by simulation of life realizations of said engine as time sequences of scheduled or random shop visits of said engine; evaluating said at least one objective, said at least one set of data and said at least one maintenance work decision based upon a set of engine life realizations; constructing a scheduled maintenance plan based upon the evaluation step; and generating a projected cost of at least one maintenance work decision based upon the construction step; and generating at least one optimal maintenance work schedule for said engine.