Aircraft ice accretion prediction based on geometrical constraints enhancement neural networks

Purpose The purpose of this study is to establish a novel airfoil icing prediction model using deep learning with geometrical constraints, called geometrical constraints enhancement neural networks, to improve the prediction accuracy compared to the non-geometrical constraints model. Design/methodology/approach The model is developed with flight velocity, ambient temperature, liquid water content, median volumetric diameter and icing time taken as inputs and icing thickness given as outputs. To enhance the icing prediction accuracy, the model involves geometrical constraints into the loss function. Then the model is trained according to icing samples of 2D NACA0012 airfoil acquired by numerical simulation. Findings The results show that the involvement of geometrical constraints effectively enhances the prediction accuracy of ice shape, by weakening the appearance of fluctuation features. After training, the airfoil icing prediction model can be used for quickly predicting airfoil icing. Originality/value This work involves geometrical constraints in airfoil icing prediction model. The proposed model has reasonable capability in the fast assessment of aircraft icing.