Nomenclature

AHM

aircraft health management

BMWK

German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action

DHBW

Baden-Wuerttemberg Cooperative State University

EUROCAE

European Organization for Civil Aviation Equipment

FAS

functional architecture for systems

IAHM

integrated aircraft health management

IATA

International Air Transport Association

INCOSE

International Council on Systems Engineering

IUEI

intentional unauthorised electronic interactions

MBSE

Model-based Systems Engineering

MEL

minimum equipment lists

OMG

object management group

RUL

remaining useful life

SysML

Systems Modeling Language

2.0 Technical foundation

3.0 Research approach

This paper demonstrates the application of a structured Model-based Systems Engineering approach on aircraft cabin systems in order to use the potential of digitalisation for integrating digital cabin systems into AHM framework and enable optimised operational processes of maintaining the aircrafts cabin. Potential architectures could include a self-contained cabin network, analogous to the AHM system, or a complete integration of cabin systems into the existing AHM framework. Based on the literature presented, the work of Elakramine et al. [Reference Elakramine, Jaradat, Hossain, Banghart, Kerr and El Amrani23] and Li et al. [Reference Li, Wang, Ma and Yang24] have been selected as foundational framework. These two approaches that apply SysML on aviation maintenance systems have been subsequently analysed and checked for the application in the development of digital aircraft cabin systems. In addition to that, the approach has been adapted and a customised approach has been defined. Details and rationale of the customised model-based approach will be presented in the section ‘Model-based Approach’. By applying the steps of the customised approach, the following two contributions will be realised:

1. 1. Modeling and use of SysML diagrams to demonstrate prospects and new use-cases that cabin system status information and health indication will deliver

2. 2. Show applicability of MBSE in the cyber-physical system of a digitalised aircraft cabin and the benefits of model-based development by modeling structural and behavioural diagrams

To visualise structural and behavioural changes and improvements of implementing cabin health indication, this paper recommends a model-based comparison with the aircraft cabin before digitalisation. SysML is the selected formal language the de facto industry standard for MBSE [15]. Through the formal rules of SysML and by following the structured customised model-based approach the model-based comparison can be conducted. As outlined in the next sections the modelled SysML diagrams support this comparison and further enable to analyse the structure and behaviour of the use cases under consideration. Through the application of the customised approach on both scenarios, two more contributions will be achieved:

1. 3. Generate the basis for the suggested model-based comparison

2. 4. Verify that the customised approach fulfills the expectation of providing a comprehensive model-based documentation

4.0 Status quo

Currently, defects in the aircraft cabin are frequently recorded manually in paper-based cabin logbooks only. This means that the airline receives information about cabin defects not until after the flight. These limitations can be addressed through digitalisation and interconnection, albeit to varying degrees across different components. Firstly, certain cabin systems, currently non-digital, can be enhanced by integrating sensors, thereby facilitating real-time data capture. Secondly, there are cabin components that are already equipped with digital sensors but remain isolated from any networked environment, in part for lack of established communication standard for aircraft cabin systems [28]. This isolation limits the potential for systems integration, hindering the possibility of leveraging collected data for predictive maintenance and operational optimisation. Lastly, some cabin components or aspects are inherently unable to be captured by digital sensors due to technical or practical limitations. Although these components will continue to require manual checks, their integration into a digital logbook system could still offer improvements in data consistency and accessibility, reducing the risk of human error and improving maintenance tracking. This state of the aircraft cabin, before digitalisation and interconnection, is referred to as status quo in the context of this paper. On the other hand, some airlines are already using digital logbooks [Reference Stapf and Marcus29]. According to [Reference Stapf and Marcus29] it was found that significant cost savings by elimination of mistakes and by automation can be achieved. Cabin defects are recorded by the crew in a digital cabin logbook, which transfers the information directly to the aircraft maintenance and engineering system.Footnote ¹ Despite the advantages of a digital logbook as described in [Reference Stapf and Marcus29], there is still a limitation: no status information of cabin and systems and networks is integrated into AHM and a direct connection between the digital cabin logbook and the aircraft manufacturer’s AHM is missing. Because of that limitation the airline’s maintenance control can only react to existing cabin defects, precluding the prospect of maintenance prognostics to forecast defects [Reference Syte and Garcia1].

Due to the fact that the entries in the digital cabin logbook are recorded by humans, the qualitative reliability of this information may potentially be questionable. An implementation of prognostics and the derivation of measures to optimise maintenance scheduling should be based on the most reliable information available. Potentially limited reliability of the human-generated logbook information can be optimised by combining human-generated cabin logbook information with cabin system status information, which this paper proposes in support of providing cabin health indication.

5.0 Model-based approach

This section describes the customised model-based approach. To generate the basis for the suggested model-based comparison and to verify that the customised model-based approach fulfills the expectations on the system documentation, the customised approach is also applied to the status quo of the aircraft cabin before digitalisation. The customised model-based approach is based on approaches that apply SysML on aviation maintenance systems [Reference Elakramine, Jaradat, Hossain, Banghart, Kerr and El Amrani23, Reference Li, Wang, Ma and Yang24]. The customisation proposed in this paper is an extension by modeling allocations. SysML allocation matrices are used to allocate requirements to the identified stakeholders and to the identified components and artifacts. The advantages of this customisation is immediately evident: the allocations of modeled elements are directly displayed, enabling instant visual recognition. This facilitates rapid and efficient visualisation of changes as well as enables the process of verifying consistency and completeness. This significantly enhances the stakeholder’s ability to assess and refine the model. The customised model-based approach uses structural and behavioural SysML diagrams and is divided into static and dynamic analyses as demonstrated in [Reference Li, Wang, Ma and Yang24]. Static analysis and dynamic analysis are each consisting of different steps, representing fundamental, superior modeling steps. Figure 1 shows an overview of the proposed modeling approach.

Figure 1.

Overview of modeling approach based on [Reference Elakramine, Jaradat, Hossain, Banghart, Kerr and El Amrani23, Reference Li, Wang, Ma and Yang24]. customised by extending the requirement identification step by allocations and by adding the component allocation step.

The static analysis is the first section of the approach. It will be the foundation for the second section (dynamic analysis) and aims to generate a structured documentation of the system. Consistent modeling of the relevant systems allows their intersections and detailed intricacies to be identified and documented. Before setting up a model and identifying the requirements, it is a best practice to identify stakeholders and stakeholder concerns first. It is also a recommended practice to continuously involve stakeholders and their needs into the development process [Reference Eichmann, Melzer, Giertzsch and God32]. By following the customised approach, these practices are applied and in addition to that a coherence of interest is captured by allocating the identified stakeholders and requirements in a matrix. While the composition is a depiction of all relevant components and functions, the definition of the internal structure portraits the system’s inner architecture including information about interfaces, data and functionality. The last step of the static part of the approach is the allocation of the components, systems and sub-systems towards the defined requirements. This generated assignment between the requirements and the modelled elements is supporting the check of consistency: for every requirement there must be at least one allocated system, sub-system, component or function.

The dynamic analysis aims to visualise and understand the behaviour. It consists of the dynamic description and an optional flow simulation. The optional simulation allows model-based testing and an animation of the behaviour.

The presented sections can be seen as fundamental, superior steps and must be conducted to obtain a comprehensive system model of the aircraft cabin before digitalisation and a second system model representing the digitalised aircraft cabin. It is important to note that Fig. 1 proposes an overview and shall be used as guidance in order to generate model elements and diagrams enabling the model-based comparison. It is evident that no additional refinement or no subsequent modeling steps are explicitly shown in Fig. 1. This is due to the fact that each system may have different requirements for the model-based representation, depending on the overall architecture and the system’s structure and behaviour. It is recommended that rules for object-oriented procedures and modeling steps as presented in [18] or [Reference Friedenthal, Moore and Steiner19] are used to construct the system model in a structured manner. In the following chapters, SysML diagrams of the status quo and of the digital aircraft cabin are shown in order to demonstrate further details of the presented fundamental steps. In addition, the modelled structural and behavioural diagrams are then compared against each other and the potential of the digital aircraft cabin, which is integrated into AHM, are presented.

6.0 Application of the approach to the status quo

In this chapter, the contribution of the generated basis for the suggested model-based comparison is demonstrated. A total of seven SysML diagrams were developed by following the customised model-based approach. Figure 2 shows a package diagram containing all top-level diagrams, which were modeled by applying the approach, providing an overview of the complete model structure.

Figure 2.

SysML package diagram showing an overview of top-level diagrams of the modelled status quo of the aircraft cabin before digitalisation and interconnection.

By following the model-based approach the first structured modeling activity is to identify the stakeholders. The top-level SysML use-case diagram in Fig. 3 illustrates all relevant stakeholders: Supplier, MRO, Airline Maintenance Control and Cabin Crew, which are associated to the primary use-case ‘Ensure availability, accessibility and serviceability of aircraft cabin’. For safe operation, the airline has to implement processes to ensure the availability, accessibility and serviceability of the aircraft cabin.

Figure 3.

SysML use-case diagram visualising stakeholders and primary use-case.

As part of the next modeling activity, the requirement identification and allocation, a SysML requirement diagram is generated. In Fig. 4 the primary use-case of the previously modelled use-case diagram has been placed in the top-right corner. This paper focuses on the ‘Record and control cabin defects’ aspect, which is one of the aspects required to fulfill the top-level use-case ‘Ensure availability, accessibility and serviceability of aircraft cabin’.

Figure 4.

SysML requirements diagram showing the requirements of the status quo of the aircraft cabin before digitalisation and interconnection.

Within the airline’s management for maintenance operations, compliance with applicable regulations is ensured [33]. The regulations are organised in a dedicated requirement diagram und are represented in the shown SysML diagram by a single requirements element. The relationship between the superior requirement (‘Record and control cabin defects’) and the regulations, located in the upper left, is expressed in the SysML diagram by a trace relationship. Subordinated requirements are modelled under the superior requirement and are assigned to it through a containment dependency. These requirements regard ‘Detect cabin defects’, ‘Communicate cabin defects’, ‘Replacement’ and ‘Repair defects’. As further step the requirements are allocated to the stakeholders by generating a matrix. Through this modeling activity the allocations of the requirements and stakeholders are directly displayed, enabling instant visual recognition. Figure 5 displays the allocation matrix.

Figure 5.

Matrix showing the stakeholders, allocated to the requirements.

Following the model-based approach, the next activity is to collect relevant elements and visualise the composition by modeling a SysML block definition diagram. Figure 6 displays the composition of the status quo’s systems elements. In the diagram, a system context element for the status quo is modelled in the upper-left corner, containing different parts and properties. Relevant elements are assigned to the system context by an aggregation dependency and broader specified by part properties and classifier behaviours. Further, these elements are the basis for the internal structure, while the properties of the block Information and Data Status Quo are later being utilised to specify connections of the internal structure.

Figure 6.

SysML block definition diagram showing the system composition of the status quo.

The next step of the modeling approach is to define the internal structure. This is accomplished by defining a SysML internal block diagram shown in Fig. 7, containing the relevant elements from the context composition. This diagram was developed in collaboration with the project partners and features the Maintenance and Engineering System as a central element. It specifically delineates the non-digitalised front end, characterised by the use of cabin paper logbooks as the current status quo outlined in this paper, as well as the digitalised back end. In the aircraft cabin, the Cabin Paper Logbook is modeled as a part property, where defects are recorded by the Cabin Crew through a Manual Paper Transfer. These entries are then manually integrated into the Maintenance and Engineering System by scanning the logbook, a process facilitated by the Analog Action connector depicted in the diagram. While the manual and personnel-dependent structure of the front end is susceptible to errors, the back end, on the other hand, demonstrates a higher degree of reliability because work orders and spare part requests are digitally transmitted to the MRO and Supplier. However, issues persist at the back end; findings from this research indicate that despite the digital capabilities, opaque Mail Exchange among stakeholders compromises the reliability, primarily due to non-uniform event formats and limited access to data from cabin systems and components, such as component-specific fault codes.

Figure 7.

SysML internal block diagram showing the internal structure of the status quo.

Due to the potentially error-prone structure, it can be deduced that digitalisation-enabled measures will lead to improvements. Further validation of this claim can be obtained through behaviour modeling. Prior to modeling behaviour, a consistency check of the static approach section is conducted: elements of the structure are aligned with previously defined requirements. This consistency check is facilitated by generating a matrix and mapping the systems, components and requirements. As Fig. 8 shows, all requirements are allocated to at least one system or component. When new requirements are added to the model, the matrix must be updated.

Figure 8.

Matrix showing requirements allocated to components and systems.

After the consistency check has been conducted, the second section of the approach and next modeling activity follows. Figure 9 illustrates the behaviour of the status quo using a SysML activity diagram. Different activities are modelled and displayed in lanes allocated to the actors introduced in the use-case diagram shown in Fig. 3. The internal block diagram presented in Fig. 7 illustrates that the actors involved are stakeholders rather than systems. This distinction is critical as it contributes to the problem previously discussed: the reliance on error-prone, paper-based work processes. The traditional paper-based logbook lacks data consistency as it exclusively contains manually entered data, which is inherently unstructured from a data analytics perspective. Such unstructured data significantly complicates accessibility for subsequent use, as well as analysis, thereby impeding opportunities for predictive maintenance. Further, no effective aircraft cabin health management can be implemented. By leveraging the potential of digitalisation and interconnection, these problems can be addressed. A solution which will allow to achieve digital aircraft cabin health management is provided in the next section.

Figure 9.

SysML activity diagram showing the dynamical description of the status quo.

7.0 Application of the approach in the development of aircraft cabin health management

The structured model-based approach is now applied to the digitised aircraft cabin, demonstrating prospects: a cabin system status information will enhance tools for aircraft scheduling and maintenance control and thereby improve reliability. A total of 10 SysML diagrams were developed by following the customised model-based approach. Additionally, the applicability and benefits of model-based development for aircraft cabin system are demonstrated. This section also presents the resulting diagrams from applying the model-based approach in the context of aircraft cabin health management. As a first step, the stakeholder analysis of the status quo, as depicted in Fig. 3, was expanded. Therefore, higher level groups are defined and the use-case name was augmented by digitalisation to reflect the new focus and purpose. Figure 10 shows the groups Airline, Maintenance Organisation, Supplier Actors and Supporting Actors, which are associated to the use-case. Further subordinated stakeholders are modelled in more detail in a block definition diagram, shown in Fig. 11. To represent actors belonging to a group, directed composition relationships were employed.

Figure 10.

SysML use-case diagram showing the primary use-case and the stakeholder groups.

Figure 11.

SysML block definition diagram showing the stakeholders and the stakeholder groups.

The model also contains subordinated use-cases as ‘Generate system health status’, ‘Visualise cabin system and component health status in cabin’, ‘Integrate cabin system and component health status on ground’ and ‘Interconnect cabin systems and components’. The use-cases are modelled in a separate diagram and are presented in Fig. 12.

Figure 12.

SysML use-case diagram: subordinated use-cases.

After revising the stakeholder analysis, the requirement identification and allocation is carried out. The requirements of the status quo have been reviewed and adapted in the context of digitalisation and are presented in Fig. 13. The requirements containing the top-level requirement ‘Record and control cabin defects digitally’ and different subordinated requirements, including ‘Detect cabin defects’, ‘Communicate cabin defects, events and failures’, ‘Replacement’, ‘Repair defects’ and ‘Regulations’.

Figure 13.

SysML requirement diagram – requirements of aircraft cabin health management.

In addition to the adaption of the requirement diagram of the status quo a second SysML requirement was modelled, addressing subordinated requirements of the digital end-to-end process to the top-level requirement. The digital end-to-end process addresses how information is transmitted from the cabin systems and components to the ground via the cabins network. The requirement diagram in Fig. 14 presents these subordinated requirements, containing ‘Basic requirements digital end-to-end process’, ‘Extended requirements digital end to end process’ and ‘Format related requirements digital end-to-end process’.

Figure 14.

SysML requirement diagram – requirements of the digital end-to-end process.

In addressing the limitations of traditional paper-based logbooks highlighted previously, the transition to digital logbooks marks a significant improvement in data handling and analytics. Digital logbooks offer to inherently ensure data consistency and structure. Providing structured data is crucial from a data analytics perspective, as it enhances accessibility and simplifies subsequent use, including opportunities for predictive maintenance.

In both modelled requirement diagrams the defined use-case ‘Ensure availability, accessibility and serviceability of digitalised aircraft cabin’ from Fig. 10 is placed in the top-right corner and traced to the top-level requirement. In order to specify the subordinated requirements from both diagrams in more detail, further requirements are derived. Detailed requirements are derived for all subordinated requirements. Derived requirements for ‘Extended requirements digital end-to-end process’ are not essential and therefore modelled in a separate diagram. Further the Regulations Requirements expanded to include security aspects.

The assignment of requirements to stakeholder groups and selected subordinated stakeholders is shown in Fig. 15. Only stakeholders who have a connection to a requirement are shown in the matrix.

Figure 15.

Matrix allocating requirements and stakeholders.

In Fig. 16, the composition for digital aircraft health management is modelled. In the block definition diagram, as already shown in the composition of the status quo in Fig. 6, a system context element is modelled as starting element for the composition. Aggregated components to the system context are the Digitalised Aircraft Cabin, Supplier System, MRO System and the Airline Operation System, including Aircraft Health Management and the Maintenance and Engineering System. These components are specified by modelled part properties and other subordinated blocks. Further there is the Information and Data Digital Aircraft Health Management block aggregated to the systems context, containing properties and values concerning data and information. The properties from this data and information element are later being used to specify connections between the part properties of the internal structure. In addition to the specification via part properties, constraints for the elements system status application and RUL calculation are modelled and applied value types are assigned to the block elements.

Figure 16.

SysML block definition diagram showing the system context and composition of digital aircraft cabin health management.

The elements from the composition in Fig. 16 are being used in the next modeling activity of defining the internal structure and are shown in the internal block diagram in Fig. 17. In the context of digitalising cabin systems and components, and considering the requirements from Figs 13 and 14, an architecture was derived together with the support of the project partners. The composition shown in Fig. 16 is a depiction of the minimum set of systems and elements as well as existing constraints, dependencies and relationships of which a digital aircraft cabin, which is integrated into AHM services, must consist of. The systems and elements were modelled such that the aircraft cabin can be integrated into AHM services. Systems and elements may vary depending on aircraft manufacturer, AHM platform software and the airline’s cabin operation and maintenance processes. Therefore, the composition in Fig. 16 is only one possible example of a system configuration of digitalised aircraft cabins. The composition and in fact all diagrams of this section are modelled on the basis of the digitally transformed aircraft cabin and are intended to demonstrate the prospects of interconnection and digitalisation. The i+sCabin2.0 research project is developing a standard [28] to enable connectivity of cabin systems and components and to interconnect systems via a network to generate, collect and transfer status information and generate an overall picture of the cabin’s condition [2].

Figure 17.

SysML internal block diagram internal structure – digital aircraft cabin health management.

While in the internal structure of the status quo, interfaces between various stakeholders are characterised by manual people-driven actions, the structure shown in Fig. 17 is designed to reduce the susceptibility to errors by implementing direct connections between the different systems. The connections are further detailed through properties of the Information and Data Digital Aircraft Health Management block in the composition. For an optimised overview in the diagram, the top-level groups of the stakeholders are connected to their respective system. The health indication function is addressed in the cabin server and is connected to the System Status Application. Via a Central Data Broker information from different systems and components in the cabin is collected and transmitted via a Live Link to the Airline Operation System.

The kind of information to be transmitted via the Live Link depends on which parameters are required for aircraft cabin health management purposes. Such Operational Data is subject to future development. In addition, Operational Data is typically of sensitive and proprietary nature. Although organisations such as the International Air Transport Association (IATA) are working on recommendations [34], the topic of data ownership is still widely debated. After the development efforts regarding parameter selection are completed by the cabin system suppliers and operators, and the questions around data ownerships are resolved in the future, SysML parametric diagrams are an ideal choice to include such details in the system model.

The airline as top-level stakeholder is connected to the Airline Operation System which includes the Aircraft Health Management and the Maintenance and Engineering System. Connections from the Airline Operation System to the supplier system enabling that Operational Data is transferred to the supplier to perform a RUL calculation and system or component predictive health management (PHM) information from the supplier can be received and integrated. In addition to that, the structure provides a connection for transmitting the Part and Repair Order from Airline Operation System to the Supplier System. The MRO System is also connected to the Supplier System as well as to the Airline Operation System for receiving Part Configuration Data and addressing repair related data.

The structured approach will deliver proof completeness between the defined requirements from Figs. 13 to 14 and the structural elements, using an allocation matrix. The matrix allocating aircraft cabin health management requirements to components and systems, is shown in Fig. 18. At least one system or component is assigned to each requirements, proving consistency.

Figure 18.

Matrix allocating requirements, compontents and systems.

Additionally, to the structural diagrams, the application of the dynamical section of the structured model-based approach on digital aircraft cabin health management visualises the expansion and improvements. The SysML activity diagram in Fig. 19 demonstrates the behaviour. Since the actions are predominantly performed by systems or components, the people-driven actions are reduced, hence fulfilling the objective and envisioned goal of reducing potentially error-prone manual processes to enhance reliability and performance.

Figure 19.

SysML activity diagram dynamical description of digital aircraft cabin health management.

8.0 Comparison of the system models and advantages of sysml

When analysing the status quo of the aircraft cabin on the basis of the SysML models created in the context of this paper, it becomes apparent that the non-digitalised structure and manual processes are potentially error-prone due to procedural, people-driven actions. This is in line with findings reported in [Reference Stapf and Marcus29]. Therefore, an effective implementation of digital aircraft cabin health management solely using existing systems is nearly unachievable. Comparing the system model of the status quo with the system model of the digital aircraft cabin health management, the following key differences can be summarised: the expansion by several stakeholders and a set of requirements for a wider, derived system context. Within this wider context, the examined use-case ‘Ensure availability, accessibility and serviceability of digitalised aircraft cabin’ and new subordinated use-cases can be implemented and weaknesses of the status quo use-case can be effectively addressed. Technological innovations, such as data analytics and artificial intelligence, which are central to the i+sCabin2.0 research project, are enabled to be integrated into the aircraft cabin by the architecture of the digital aircraft cabin health management system.

The research approach focused on modeling two system scenarios: the current status quo and the digital aircraft cabin, which is interconnected and integrated into AHM services. This dual-modeling approach highlights the strengths of SysML in visualising and comparing complex system models. Firstly, the modeling of the status quo was carried out. The SysML model was used in the i+sCabin2.0 reseach project to support the partners in understanding the current state of the not-digitalised aircraft cabin, facilitating a comprehensive picture of the status quo. As basis for the new developments and to define requirements of the digital aircraft cabin, the SysML diagrams and elements from chapter 6 have been analysed and used to identify existing weaknesses. We found that the capabilities of SysML perfectly covered the need for an unambiguous, clear documentation. The application of the SysML-based approach of this paper on the scenario of a digitalised aircraft cabin demonstrates the benefits of digital transformation and the overall picture of the cabin’s condition. The focus is the management of cabin defects and integration of the aircraft cabin into AHM services. In the future, this is enabled by the results of the i+sCabin2.0 research project [28].

In consideration of the advantages of utilising SysML for the respective scenarios delineated in chapters 6 and 7, the formal rules of SysML are in fact a prerequisite for the comparison of the different system models. The comparability of the models is in addition facilitated by modeling the static and dynamic sections of the approach defined in chapter 5, utilising the same diagram types, and employing the same elements or expanding these elements. Such a comparison of the different scenarios would not be feasible if the underlying approach was based on documents. It is evident that this is a clear advantage for MBSE. Accordingly, this paper demonstrates that the capabilities of the SysML language, as outlined in the standard [15] and discussed in literature such as [Reference Delligatti14, Reference Weilkiens17], can be extended by the targeted application of the methods described in chapter 5 to facilitate the comparison of different scenarios. Due to the representation in diagrams, this comparison is also graphically underlined. The proposed modeling of matrices and usage of allocations further contributes to this, enabling direct consistency checks of the model. During modeling, fundamentals from object-oriented approaches as mentioned in the technical foundation have been taken into account by modeling requirements, structures and behaviours [18, Reference Friedenthal, Moore and Steiner19]. Further advantages of the selection of model-based approaches and the usage of SysML are become apparent because of the complex nature of aircraft cabin system design. The developed system model of the digital aircraft cabin, as presented in the paper, will be used as basis for future research concerning airworthiness security and certification. As outlined by [Reference Hintze and God13], SysML is suitable for such purposes. The structured and targeted usage of SysML and model-based approaches contributes to establish the system model as single source of truth, where all relevant design decisions are captured, as proposed by Delligatti [Reference Delligatti14].

9.0 Conclusion

By applying the proposed customised Model-based Systems Engineering approach to the status quo of the aircraft cabin, a basis for the model-based comparison has been established. The application of SysML supports the i+sCabin2.0 project team to get a precise understanding of the current state of the aircraft cabin and the potentials enabled by digitalisation and interconnection. The SysML model, developed as part of this work, enables visualisation of the current processes for capturing cabin defects and identifies the stakeholders, systems and components involved in the repair and replacement processes. Additionally, it illustrates how technological innovations and digital development methods – such as data analytics, artificial intelligence and model-based development approaches – are applied within the project to capitalise on the opportunities presented by digitalisation and interconnectivity. These prospects have been successfully verified in this paper by also applying the customised model-based approach to the new proposed architecture and processes of a digital aircraft cabin health management system. The benefits of model-based development include a unanimous understanding and uniform documentation across stakeholders, enhanced reusability of the model for different system variants, and a systematic approach to the development and comparison of digital aircraft cabin systems.

Adhering to the customised Model-based Systems Engineering approach ensures the creation of comprehensive model-based documentation. The SysML model, which encompasses both structural and behavioural diagrams, plays a facilitating role in enhancing the collaborative efforts of the project partners to develop health management solutions for aircraft cabin systems. In summary, the results emphasise the efficacy of implementing MBSE within the cyber-physical systems context of a digitised aircraft cabin.