Causal Inference for Root Cause Analysis in Safety-Critical Engineering Systems

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Published Jul 3, 2026
Evangelia Perivolaki Steve King Irene Moulitsas

Abstract

Root-cause analysis (RCA) in safety-critical engineering relies heavily on correlation-based methods and expert judgment. These approaches are useful but limited: they can identify which signals are associated with a fault, but not why that fault occurred or which factors genuinely caused it. This research explores how causal inference techniques, combined with domain engineering knowledge, can produce more reliable, explainable, and reusable diagnostic tools for Prognostics and Health Management (PHM). The work is grounded in a structured literature review and early prototyping and will be validated on a real industrial dataset from a large civil aerospace engine programme.

How to Cite

Perivolaki, E., King, S. ., & Moulitsas, I. . (2026). Causal Inference for Root Cause Analysis in Safety-Critical Engineering Systems . PHM Society European Conference, 9(1), 1–3. https://doi.org/10.36001/phme.2026.v9i1.5029
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Keywords

Causality, Aerospace, Root Cause Investigation

References
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Section
Doctoral Symposium