Machine learning-based inverse design methods considering data characteristics and design space size in materials design and manufacturing: a review

In the last few decades, the influence of machine learning has permeated many areas of science and technology, including the field of materials science. This toolkit of data driven methods accelerated the discovery and production of new materials by accurately predicting the complicated physical processes and mechanisms that are not fully described by existing materials theories. However, the availability of a growing number of increasingly complex machine learning models confronts us with the question of "which machine learning algorithm to employ". In this review, we provide a comprehensive review of common machine learning algorithms used for materials design, as well as a guideline for selecting the most appropriate model considering the nature of the design problem. To this end, we classify the material design problems into four categories of: (i) the training data set being sufficiently large to capture the trend of design space (interpolation problem), (ii) a vast design space that cannot be explored thoroughly with the initial training data set alone (extrapolation problem), (iii) multi-fidelity datasets (small accurate dataset and large approximate dataset), and (iv) only a small dataset available. The most successful machine learning-based surrogate models and design approaches will be discussed for each case along with pertinent literature. This review focuses mostly on the use of ML algorithms for the inverse design of complicated composite structures, a topic that has received a lot of attention recently with the rise of additive manufacturing.

Analytical Investigation of the Impact of Jet Geometry on Aeration Effectiveness Using Soft Computing Techniques

Jet aeration is a commonly used technique for introducing air into water during wastewater treatment. In this investigation, the efficacy of different soft computing models, namely, Random Forest, Reduced Error Pruning Tree, Artificial Neural Network (ANN), Gaussian Process, and Support Vector Machine, was examined in predicting the aeration efficiency (E20) of circular and square jet configurations in an open channel flow. A total of 126 experimental data points were utilized to develop and validate these models. To assess the models' performance, three goodness-of-fit parameters were employed: correlation coefficient (CC), root-mean-square error (RMSE), and mean absolute error (MAE). The analysis revealed that all of the developed models exhibited predictive capabilities, with CC values surpassing 0.8. Nonetheless, when it comes to predicting E20, the ANN model outperformed other soft computing models, achieving a CC of 0.9748, MAE of 0.0164, and RMSE of 0.0211. A sensitivity analysis emphasized that the angle of inclination exerted the most significant influence on the aeration in an open channel. Furthermore, the results demonstrated that square jets delivered superior aeration compared to that of circular jets under identical operating conditions.