Aeroengine performance prediction using a physical-embedded data-driven method

TL;DR

This paper presents a novel physical-embedded data-driven method for aeroengine performance prediction that combines domain knowledge with neural networks to improve accuracy, efficiency, and interpretability.

Contribution

It introduces a hybrid approach integrating aeroengine domain expertise with neural network design, including new feature fusion methods and an innovative loss function.

Findings

The tailored loss function improves prediction accuracy.

The model achieves comparable or better performance with fewer parameters.

The approach reduces data dependency and enhances interpretability.

Abstract

Accurate and efficient prediction of aeroengine performance is of paramount importance for engine design, maintenance, and optimization endeavours. However, existing methodologies often struggle to strike an optimal balance among predictive accuracy, computational efficiency, modelling complexity, and data dependency. To address these challenges, we propose a strategy that synergistically combines domain knowledge from both the aeroengine and neural network realms to enable real-time prediction of engine performance parameters. Leveraging aeroengine domain knowledge, we judiciously design the network structure and regulate the internal information flow. Concurrently, drawing upon neural network domain expertise, we devise four distinct feature fusion methods and introduce an innovative loss function formulation. To rigorously evaluate the effectiveness and robustness of our proposed strategy, we conduct comprehensive validation across two distinct datasets. The empirical results demonstrate :(1) the evident advantages of our tailored loss function; (2) our model's ability to maintain equal or superior performance with a reduced parameter count; (3) our model's reduced data dependency compared to generalized neural network architectures; (4)Our model is more interpretable than traditional black box machine learning methods.