Complex System Diagnostics Using a Knowledge Graph-Informed and Large Language Model-Enhanced Framework

Abstract

Featured Application: This framework demonstrates how Large Language Models (LLMs) can be used to automate functional model construction and enable natural language-driven fault diagnostics in complex engineered systems. By integrating LLMs with a knowledge graph of an Auxiliary Feedwater system, the approach supports predictive maintenance and intelligent fault analysis. It applies to safety-critical domains such as nuclear power plants and other high-reliability industries. This paper presents a hybrid diagnostic framework that integrates Knowledge Graphs (KGs) with Large Language Models (LLMs) to support fault diagnosis in complex, high-reliability systems such as nuclear power plants. The framework is based on the Dynamic Master Logic (DML) model, which organizes system functions, components, and dependencies into a hierarchical KG for logic-based reasoning. LLMs act as high-level facilitators by automating the extraction of DML logic from unstructured technical documentation, linking functional models with language-based reasoning, and interpreting user queries in natural language. For diagnostic queries, the LLM agent selects and invokes predefined tools that perform upward or downward propagation in the KG using DML logic, while explanatory queries retrieve and contextualize relevant KG segments to generate user-friendly interpretations. This ensures that reasoning remains transparent and grounded in the system structure. This approach reduces the manual effort needed to construct functional models and enables natural language queries to deliver diagnostic insights. In a case study on an auxiliary feedwater system used in the nuclear pressurized water reactors, the framework achieved over 90 percent accuracy in model element extraction and consistently interpreted both diagnostic and explanatory queries. The results validate the effectiveness of LLMs in automating model construction and delivering explainable AI-assisted health monitoring.