Introduction

Background to PLCS and DEXs

This document provides the Aviation maintenance Data Exchange Specification (DEX).

The DEX:

• identifies a subset of the ISO 10303-239 "Product Life Cycle Support" [1] information model that is to be used in a given business context;
• provides usage guidance for how ISO 10303-239 PLCS is to be used.

OASIS PLCS TC Publications are derived from the content that is developed on DEXLIB. It is important to note that it is the publication that is the subject of standardisation and not DEXLIB. DEXLIB is a development environment for the OASIS PLCS TC.

ISO 10303-239 is part of the ISO 10303 (STEP) set of International Standards for the computer-interpretable representation of product information and for the exchange of product data. The objective of ISO 10303 is to provide a neutral mechanism capable of describing products throughout their life cycle. This mechanism is suitable not only for neutral file exchange, but also as a basis for implementing and sharing product databases, and as a basis for archiving.

ISO 10303-239 PLCS - Product Life Cycle Support specifies an information model that defines what information can be exchanged and represented to support a product through life. Examples of such information are:

• information for defining a complex product and its support solution;
• information required to maintain a complex product;
• information required for through life Configuration Management of a product and its support solution.

Introduction to the Aviation Maintenance DEX

The Aviation Maintenance DEX enables the transmission of information on:

• maintenance activities that have been undertaken on reportable items, namely aircraft, components and modules, and support item e.g. ground equipment. Typical maintenance activities are:
  • removal of serviceable or unserviceable reportable items from another reportable item such as an aircraft or support item;
  • installation of reportable items on another reportable item such as an aircraft or support item;
  • correction of faults;
  • standard maintenance tasks;
  • serial number / part number changes.
• activities that have been performed by an aircraft or components that will affect maintenance. For example, flying the aircraft will consume the life of the components;
• the status, such as fault states, symptoms and serviceability state, of the aircraft and its components;
• activities to add to or remove reportable items from an aircraft operators inventory;

Related DEXs

The information exchanged by the Aviation Maintenance DEX is normally between an aircraft operator and maintainer. It is assumed that each party has access to the Product Configuration Information: the procedures and technical information needed by operators and support personnel to operate, maintain and dispose of the product including operating procedures, security procedures, maintenance procedures, as built product structures, spare parts lists, and disposal methods.

The Product Configuration Information can be exchanged using the following DEXs:

• DEX (D001):— Product Breakdown for Support . This DEX can be used to specify the as designed product structure of an aircraft. It will incorporate a breakdown structure detailing what components can be fitted into which positions on the aircraft;
• DEX: (D008) — Product as Individual . This DEX can be used to specify the as delivered product structure of an aircraft. It will incorporate a breakdown structure detailing what serial numbered items are currently and have been fitted into which positions. It may also be used to provide the current and historical life properties of the aircraft and constituent components;
• DEX: (D005) — Maintenance plan . This DEX can be used to provide the details of the planned maintenance of an aircraft. The tasks and possible faults are covered by other DEXs;
• DEX: (D002) — Faults related to products . This DEX can be used to provide the details of the possible fault states that can occur on an aircraft;
• DEX: (D003) — Information related to a single task . This DEX can be used to provide the details of maintenance tasks that have been defined to be performed on the aircraft.

Structure of the DEX

The DEX comprises the following sections:

• Terms provides a definition of terms used in this DEX;
• Scope outlines the scope of the information covered by the DEX;
• ISO 10303-239 Activity Model uses the ISO 10303-239 Activity model to illustrate the business activities that are supported by the DEX;
• Business Overview provides a high level overview of the business process / application that this DEX is intended to support;
• Information Overview provides a high level overview of the business information that can be represented by this DEX;
• Information Requirements provides a more detailed overview of the information that the business process / application described in Business Overview requires;
• ISO 10303-239 Representation provides technical details of how the business information requirements identified in Information Requirements are represented in using ISO 10303 239 PLCS;
• Templates lists all the templates that are used in the definition of this DEX;
• Capabilities lists all the capabilities that provide usage guidance for this DEX;
• Schemas identifies the information models that define the DEX, namely:
  • The EXPRESS [2], aviation_maintenance.exp ( HTML view) model for the DEX;
  • The XML Schema for the DEX derived from the EXPRESS according to ISO 10303-28 [4] edition 2.
• Reference Data lists the reference data classes used by this DEX;
• Conformance defines the requirements for applications to conform to this DEX.

Supporting Material

PLCS Help and Information Pages.

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