Startseite A hybrid onboard model for aero-engine direct thrust predictive control
Artikel
Lizenziert
Nicht lizenziert Erfordert eine Authentifizierung

A hybrid onboard model for aero-engine direct thrust predictive control

  • Qiangang Zheng , Wei Liu , Fangze Sun EMAIL logo , Liangliang Li , Dewei Xiang und Haibo Zhang
Veröffentlicht/Copyright: 25. November 2025
Veröffentlichen auch Sie bei De Gruyter Brill

Abstract

Direct thrust control can markedly enhance thrust regulation accuracy and unlock the full performance potential of aero-engines. To improve both real-time capability and precision, we propose a hybrid adaptive onboard predictive modeling framework, termed DNN-PSM-SVM. In this approach, a deep neural network captures strong nonlinearities to refine accuracy, while steady- and dynamic-deviation models based on PSM and SVM reduce computational complexity. A Kalman filter further enhances adaptability, avoiding heavy nonlinear calculations and significantly improving real-time performance. Leveraging this model within a predictive control scheme, unmeasurable parameters such as thrust and surge margin are estimated in real-time, enabling accurate thrust control even under component degradation. Simulation results show that the method outperforms conventional predictive control, achieving steady-state accuracy below 0.06 % and improving real-time performance by nearly an order of magnitude. Unlike sensor-based control, it maintains precise thrust regulation despite engine degradation.


Corresponding author: Fangze Sun, Jiangsu Province Key Laboratory of Aerospace Power Systems, Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Nanjing 210016, China, E-mail:

Acknowledgments

This study was supported in part by General Project of National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 52372389), in part by National Science and Technology Major Project (J2022-I-0003-0003) in part by Aero Engine Corporation of China industry-university research cooperation project, China (No. HFZL2023CXY013).

  1. Research ethics: Not applicable.

  2. Informed consent: Not applicable.

  3. Author contributions: All authors have accepted responsibility for the entire content of this manuscript and approved its submission.

  4. Use of Large Language Models, AI and Machine Learning Tools: None declared.

  5. Conflict of interest: The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

  6. Research funding: None declared.

  7. Data availability: Not applicable.

References

1. Vizzini, RW. Integrated flight/propulsion control system considerations for future aircraft application. J Eng Gas Turbines Power 1985;107:833–7. https://doi.org/10.1115/1.3239819.Suche in Google Scholar

2. Maggiore, M, Ordonez, R, Kevin, MP, Adibhatla, S. Estimator design in jet engine applications. Eng Appl Artif Intell 2003;16:579–93. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.engappai.2003.10.003.Suche in Google Scholar

3. Wei, Z, Zhang, S, Jafari, S, Nikolaidis, T. Gas turbine aero-engines real-time onboard modelling: a review, research challenges, and exploring the future. Prog Aero Sci 2020;121:100693. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paerosci.2020.100693.Suche in Google Scholar

4. Litt, JS, Simon, DL, Garg, S, Guo, TH, Mercer, C, Millar, R, et al.. A survey of intellident control and health management technologies for aircraft propulsion systems. J Aero Comput Inf Commun 2004;1:543–63. https://doi.org/10.2514/1.13048.Suche in Google Scholar

5. Adibhatla, S, Lewis, T. Model-based intelligent digital engine control (MoBIDEC). 33rd joint propulsion conference and exhibit; 2013. p. 3192.Suche in Google Scholar

6. Adibhatla, S, Brown, H, Gastineau, Z. Intelligent engine control (IEC). AIAA-92-3484, 1992.10.2514/6.1992-3484Suche in Google Scholar

7. Liu, TJ, Du, X, Sun, XM, Richter, H, Zhu, F. Robust tracking control of aero-engine rotor speed based on switched LPV model. Aero Sci Technol 2019;91:382–90. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ast.2019.05.031.Suche in Google Scholar

8. Zheng, Q, Pang, S, Zhang, H, Hu, Z. A study on aero-engine direct thrust control with nonlinear model predictive control based on deep neural network. J Syst Control Eng 2020;234:330–7.10.1177/0959651819853395Suche in Google Scholar

9. Li, S, Wang, Y, Zhang, H. A multivariable adaptive control method for aeroengine with H∞ performance considering engine output limitation protection based on fully adjustable Neural network. Aero Sci Technol 2025:157109754–4. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ast.2024.109754.Suche in Google Scholar

10. Yazar, I, Kiyak, E, Caliskan, F, Karakoc, TH. Simulation-based dynamic model and speed controller design of a small-scale turbojet engine. Aircraft Eng Aero Technol 2018;90:351–8. https://doi.org/10.1108/aeat-09-2016-0150.Suche in Google Scholar

11. Simon, DL, Long, TW. Adaptive optimization of aircraft engine performance using neural networks. National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Cleveland, OH: Lewis Research Center; 1995.Suche in Google Scholar

12. Pi, J, MA, S, Zhang, Q. Aero-engine exhaust gas temperature prediction model based on IFOA-GRNN. J Aero Power 2019;34:9–15.Suche in Google Scholar

13. Smith, RH, Chisholm, JD, Stewart, JF. Optimizing aircraft performance with adaptive, integrated flight/propulsion control. J Eng Gas Turbines Power 1991;113:87–94. https://doi.org/10.1115/1.2906535.Suche in Google Scholar

14. Imani, A, Montazeri-GH, M. Improvement of min-max limit protection in aircraft engine control: an LMI approach. Aero Sci Technol 2017;68:214–22. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ast.2017.05.017.Suche in Google Scholar

15. Connolly, JW, Csank, J, Chicatelli, A, Kilver, J. Model-based control of a nonlinear aircraft engine simulation using an optimal tuner kalman filter approach. In: 49th AIAA/ASM/SAE/ASEE joint propulsion conference; 2013:4002 p.10.2514/6.2013-4002Suche in Google Scholar

16. Zheng, Q, Xu, Z, Zhang, H, Zhu, Z. A turboshaft engine NMPC scheme for helicopter autorotation recovery maneuver. Aero Sci Technol 2020;76:421–32. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ast.2018.01.034.Suche in Google Scholar

17. Hassani, H, Mansouri, A, Ahaitouf, A. Model-based robust tracking attitude and altitude control of an uncertain quadrotor under disturbances. Int J Aeronaut Space Sci 2024;25:1471–4. https://doi.org/10.1007/s42405-024-00742-4.Suche in Google Scholar

18. Dong, Z, Zhou, W, Pan, M, Huang, KM. Modification and updating method in component characteristics of turboshaft engine. J Aeroeng 2018;44:15–20.Suche in Google Scholar

19. Brunell, BJ, Viassolo, DE, Prasanth, R. Model adaptation and nonlinear model predictive control of an aircraft engine. ASME Tubo Expo 2004:673–82. https://doi.org/10.1115/gt2004-53780.Suche in Google Scholar

20. Simon, DL, Armstrong, JB, Garg, S. Application of an optimal tuner selection approach for onboard self-tuning engine models. ASME 2011 turbo expo: turbine technical conference and exposition; 2012. p. 361–73.10.1115/GT2011-46408Suche in Google Scholar

21. Simon, DL, Garg, S. Optimal tuner selection for Kalman filter-based aircraft engine performance estimation. J Eng Gas Turbines Power 2010;132:031601 https://doi.org/10.1115/1.3157096.Suche in Google Scholar

22. Yin, X, An, H, Jia, S, Ma, H, Wang, C, Wang, L, et al.. Modeling and attitude disturbance rejection control of a compound high-speed helicopter with a new configuration. International J Aeronaut Space Sci 2024:1–17. https://doi.org/10.1007/s42405-024-00842-1. (prepublish).Suche in Google Scholar

23. Zhang, X, Liu, C, Wang, J, Li, X. Fruit fly optimization algorithm with escape predation mechanism based direct lift control for automatic carrier landing. Proc Inst Mech Eng 2024;238:1244–8.10.1177/09544100241262557Suche in Google Scholar

24. Zhao, YP, Li, ZQ, Hu, QK. A size-transferring radial basis function network for aero-engine thrust estimation. Eng Appl Artif Intell 2020;87:103253. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.engappai.2019.103253.Suche in Google Scholar

25. Jia, Z, Chuan, T, Yuanxi, S. Thresholding-accelerated convolutional neural network for aeroengine turbine blade segmentation. Expert Syst Appl 2024;238:122387 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eswa.2023.122387.Suche in Google Scholar

26. Dakai, L, Wang, M, Chang, XK. S E ,Mingang, W. Reentry attitude fault tolerant control for RLV based on adaptive second-order nonsingular fast terminal sliding mode. Int J Aeronaut and Space Sci. 2022,23:980–91, https://doi.org/10.1007/s42405-022-00480-5.Suche in Google Scholar

27. Csank, J, Connolly, JW. Enhanced engine performance during emergency operation using a model-based engine control architecture. 51st AIAA/SAE/ASEE joint propulsion conference; 2015. p. 3991.10.2514/6.2015-3991Suche in Google Scholar

28. John, S, Orme, GB. Gilyard. subsonic flight test evaluation of a parameter estimation process for the F100 engine. 28th joint propulsion conference and exhibit; 1992. p. 3745.10.2514/6.1992-3745Suche in Google Scholar

29. Jin, C, Zheng, Q, Zhang, H, Fang, J, Hu, Z. Direct thrust predictive control of aeroengine based on compact propulsion system dynamic model-state variable model. J Propuls Technol 2022;43:354–63.Suche in Google Scholar

30. Fang, J, Zheng, Q, Zhang, H. Research on compact propulsion system dynamic model based on deep neural network. J Aero Eng 2022;236:2496–507.10.1177/09544100211064387Suche in Google Scholar

31. Zheng, Q, Wang, Y, Jin, C, Zhang, H. Aero-engine dynamic based on an improved compact propulsion system dynamic model. J Syst Control Eng 2021;235:1036–45. https://doi.org/10.1177/0959651820984081.Suche in Google Scholar

32. Hinton, GE, Osindero, S, Teh, YW. A fast learning algorithm for deep belief nets. Neural Comput 2006;18:1527–54. https://doi.org/10.1162/neco.2006.18.7.1527.Suche in Google Scholar PubMed

33. Zhenhua, L, Mingliang, B, Minghao, R, Liu, J, Yu, D. Fault detection and isolation of aeroengine combustion chamber based on unscented Kalman filter method fusing artificial neural network. Energy 2023;272:127068 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.energy.2023.127068.Suche in Google Scholar

34. Hinton, G, Srivastava, N, Swersky, K. Neural networks for machine learning lecture 6a overview of mini-batch gradient descent. Cited on 2012;14:2.Suche in Google Scholar

35. Lou, Y, Yan, M. Fast L1–L2 minimization via a proximal operator. J Sci Comput 2018;74:767–85. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10915-017-0463-2.Suche in Google Scholar

36. Liu, L, Jiang, H, He, P, Chen, W, Liu, X, Gao, J, et al.. On the variance of the adaptive learning rate and beyond. arXiv preprint arXiv:1908.03265 2019.Suche in Google Scholar

37. Ioffe, S, Szegedy, C. Batch normalization: accelerating deep network training by reducing internal covariate shift. International conference on machine learning. PMLR; 2015. p. 448–56.Suche in Google Scholar

38. Santurkar, S, Tsipras, D, Ilyas, A, Madry, A. How does batch normalization help optimization. Adv Neural Inf Process Syst 2018;31.Suche in Google Scholar

39. Zheng, Q, Fang, J, Hu, Z, Zhang, H. Aero-engine onboard model based on batch normalize deep neural network [J]. IEEE Access, 2019, 7: 54855–62, https://doi.org/10.1109/access.2018.2885199.Suche in Google Scholar

40. Seok, J, Kolmanovsky, I. A. Girard coordinated model predictive control of aircraft gas turbine engine and power system. J Guid Control Dynam 2017;40:2538–55. https://doi.org/10.2514/1.g002562.Suche in Google Scholar

41. Montazeri-Gh, M, Rasti, A. A. Imani comparison of model predictive controller and min-max approach for aircraft engine fuel control. 5th international conference on control, instrumentation, and Automation(ICCIA). IEEE; 2017. p. 331–6.10.1109/ICCIAutom.2017.8258702Suche in Google Scholar

42. Wang, Y, Zheng, Q, Du, Z, Zhang, H. Research on nonlinear model predictive control for turboshaft engines based on double engines torques matching. Chin J Aeronaut 2020;33:561–71. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cja.2019.10.008.Suche in Google Scholar

43. Zhou, X, Lu, F, Zhou, W, Huang, J. An improved multivariable generalized predictive control algorithm for direct performance control of gas turbine engine. Aero Sci Technol 2020;99:105576. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ast.2019.105576.Suche in Google Scholar

44. Pang, S, Li, Q, Feng, H. A hybrid onboard adaptive model for aero-engine parameter prediction. Aero Sci Technol 2020;105:105951. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ast.2020.105951.Suche in Google Scholar

Received: 2025-08-29
Accepted: 2025-11-09
Published Online: 2025-11-25

© 2025 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston

Heruntergeladen am 4.12.2025 von https://www.degruyterbrill.com/document/doi/10.1515/tjj-2025-0090/pdf
Button zum nach oben scrollen