Organizational and Human factors for NDE reliability assessment – FOEHN

The project FOEHN fits the challenge 3 of the thematic axis Factory of the Future (Axis2) of the call. The context is the field of research dedicated to provide innovation for increasing the reliability of NDE (Non Destructive Evaluation) methods used by industry. More precisely the project proposes to develop new methodologies and simulation tools aiming at increasing the accuracy of the reliability assessment of NDE methods by taking into account influential factors including OHF (Organizational and Human Factors).
The reliability of NDE methods can be estimated by calculating probability of detection (POD) for the researched flaws. This approach allows to accounting for the variability of the parameters which impact the response of the inspection system through statistical analysis. Numerical simulation is more and more used in this context. Nowadays Organizational and Human Factors (OHF) are difficult to take into account in this context and often, the performances observed on site are lower that initially predicted. The variability of some “technical factors” also remains difficult to account for. The project FOEHN aims at analyzing and modelizing influence. The objective is to propose POD evaluation tools taking into account technical factors which influence the response of the inspection system and OHF. More specifically the project FOEHN aims at improving in thi sense the so-called MAPOD (Model Assisted POD) approach based on the use of simulation. The approach adopted consists in studying several cases of applications from which will be proposed more generic methodologic tools.
In order to fulfil these objective the consortium of the collaborative project FOEHN is constituted by:
• Three NDE industrial end-users : AIRBUS GROUP for the aircraft insudtry, EDF CEIDRE for the nuclear industry and the INSTITUT DE SOUDURE active in many industrial sectors.
• The Institute LIST of CEA Tech, RTO active in NDE which in particular develops the CIVA simulation plat-form and works on MAPOD approach.
• The CRC (Centre de recherche sur les Risques et les Crises) de l’école Mines Paristech, research center dedicated to organizational and Human Factors.
The expected results are at different levels. First of all the project will provide a formal framework allowing to better understanding, modeling and predicting the impact of OHF on the performances of inspections. In addition at the end of the project will be available sets of data obtained in well controlled conditions involving the monitoring of inspectors. Methodologies for the capture and exploitation of human factors in the context of a POD study. These tools will be implemented in a laboratory plat-form which will possibly be enriched and exploited beyond the project. In parallel, the MAPOD approach will be extended in order to provide more realistic estimated POD. The numerical tools will be implemented in CIVA. More generally it is expected a significant improvement of the estimation of statistical indicators related to POD and consequently new possibilities to optimize the design and assessment of NDE methods.