Maintenance and Repair

Maintenance and Repair

16 June 2025

Joint development by NLR and PhotonFirst for real-time condition monitoring of helicopters

At the 2025 Paris Air Show, the Royal Netherlands Aerospace Centre (NLR) and PhotonFirst jointly announce the development of an innovative SHUMS solution (Structural Health and Usage Monitoring System) for helicopters. This collaboration marks a significant step forward in the development of advanced monitoring technologies for the aerospace sector with real-time monitoring of structural loads and fatigue during flight.

Maintenance and Repair

01 April 2025

Maintenance Engineering

In today's fast-paced aerospace industry, maintaining a competitive edge requires robust maintenance engineering capabilities. The Netherlands Aerospace Centre (NLR) offers expert support to enhance your maintenance organisation and engineering processes, driving efficiency, reliability, and compliance.

Maintenance and Repair

28 March 2025

Non-Destructive Inspection

Non-destructive inspection (NDI) plays a critical role in ensuring the integrity and reliability of complex systems and components. Our team of scientists and specialists, equipped with novel state-of-the-art facilities, is dedicated to develop and employ tailored inspection methodologies that meet the needs of our clients. We provide assistance to airlines, air forces and aircraft component manufacturers, providing services that span from fundamental research to the qualification of NDI-methods. Our expertise contains a wide variety of NDI-techniques including (laser) ultrasonic testing (UT), eddy current testing (ECT), infrared thermography (IRT), and laser shearography (ST). An overview of our capabilities is displayed in the ‘Non-destructive inspection’ flyer.

Maintenance and Repair

28 March 2025

Force Life Management

With a unique combination of expertise and state-of-the-art facilities, we are equipped to design and execute comprehensive on-board loads and usage measurement campaigns for a wide range of military assets, from aircraft and helicopters to engines, landing gears, and supporting subsystems. Our capabilities extend beyond data collection, as we also possess the necessary hardware, expertise, and experience to store, process, analyse, and interpret the vast amounts of data generated by these campaigns. By leveraging advanced tools and techniques, such as modal analysis, fatigue strength calculations, and finite element modelling, we can provide actionable insights into the dynamic behaviour and structural integrity of these complex systems, ultimately informing maintenance, repair, and overhaul strategies to ensure optimal performance and longevity.

Maintenance and Repair

28 March 2025

Composite Repair

With a deep understanding of the complexities involved in repairing Polymer Based Composite structures, our team is well-equipped to tackle the most challenging projects. Whether it's thermoset or thermoplastic materials, we possess the expertise and knowledge to deliver high-quality solutions that meet the stringent demands of the 'High Tech - High Spec' community. From aerospace and automotive to maritime, rail, transport, and medical industries, we provide specialised support to organisations that require precision, reliability, and innovation in the repair of composite structures.

Maintenance and Repair

25 February 2025

Measuring- and instrumentation technology

NLR can help you measure and monitor the behaviour of your structures and components by instrumenting them on-site or in our facilities, allowing us to capture a wide range of parameters such as strains, forces, crack growth, deformation, displacement, vibration, geometry, impacts, temperature, (residual) stresses and stress distribution. We use a broad range of advanced surfacemounted-, integrated- or contactless- sensors to provide you with accurate and reliable data. This enables you to make informed decisions about your structures and components.

Maintenance and Repair

25 February 2025

Failure analysis

When critical components, structures, or systems fail, understanding why is essential to maintaining safety, reliability, and performance. At NLR, we specialise in identifying the root cause of failures, whether they result from material defects, operational stresses, or unexpected environmental conditions. Our experts provide independent assessments, in-depth investigations, and actionable recommendations to help you prevent future failures, optimise production, and minimise costly downtime. At NLR, we don’t just identify the problem – we help you prevent it from happening again.

Maintenance and Repair

25 February 2025

Augmented reality maintenance training

NLR can help optimise aircraft maintenance training, enabling technicians to spend less time on training and more time on the job, while improving their competency levels. This leads to a reduction in aircraft on ground (AOG) costs and overall maintenance expenses, resulting in a more efficient and effective maintenance process.