A surrogate model for topology optimisation of elastic structures via parametric autoencoders

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Authors: Giacomini, Matteo, Huerta, Antonio
Format: Preprint
Published: 2025
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_version_ 1866915593120120832
author Giacomini, Matteo
Huerta, Antonio
author_facet Giacomini, Matteo
Huerta, Antonio
contents A surrogate-based topology optimisation algorithm for linear elastic structures under parametric loads and boundary conditions is proposed. Instead of learning the parametric solution of the state (and adjoint) problems or the optimisation trajectory as a function of the iterations, the proposed approach devises a surrogate version of the entire optimisation pipeline. First, the method predicts a quasi-optimal topology for a given problem configuration as a surrogate model of high-fidelity topologies optimised with the homogenisation method. This is achieved by means of a feed-forward net learning the mapping between the input parameters characterising the system setup and a latent space determined by encoder/decoder blocks reducing the dimensionality of the parametric topology optimisation problem and reconstructing a high-dimensional representation of the topology. Then, the predicted topology is used as an educated initial guess for a computationally efficient algorithm penalising the intermediate values of the design variable, while enforcing the governing equations of the system. This step allows the method to correct potential errors introduced by the surrogate model, eliminate artifacts, and refine the design in order to produce topologies consistent with the underlying physics. Different architectures are proposed and the approximation and generalisation capabilities of the resulting models are numerically evaluated. The quasi-optimal topologies allow to outperform the high-fidelity optimiser by reducing the average number of optimisation iterations by $53\%$ while achieving discrepancies below $4\%$ in the optimal value of the objective functional, even in the challenging scenario of testing the model to extrapolate beyond the training and validation domain.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2507_22539
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle A surrogate model for topology optimisation of elastic structures via parametric autoencoders
Giacomini, Matteo
Huerta, Antonio
Numerical Analysis
Artificial Intelligence
Computational Engineering, Finance, and Science
Machine Learning
Optimization and Control
49M41, 74P05, 74P15, 74S05, 65M60, 65M30
A surrogate-based topology optimisation algorithm for linear elastic structures under parametric loads and boundary conditions is proposed. Instead of learning the parametric solution of the state (and adjoint) problems or the optimisation trajectory as a function of the iterations, the proposed approach devises a surrogate version of the entire optimisation pipeline. First, the method predicts a quasi-optimal topology for a given problem configuration as a surrogate model of high-fidelity topologies optimised with the homogenisation method. This is achieved by means of a feed-forward net learning the mapping between the input parameters characterising the system setup and a latent space determined by encoder/decoder blocks reducing the dimensionality of the parametric topology optimisation problem and reconstructing a high-dimensional representation of the topology. Then, the predicted topology is used as an educated initial guess for a computationally efficient algorithm penalising the intermediate values of the design variable, while enforcing the governing equations of the system. This step allows the method to correct potential errors introduced by the surrogate model, eliminate artifacts, and refine the design in order to produce topologies consistent with the underlying physics. Different architectures are proposed and the approximation and generalisation capabilities of the resulting models are numerically evaluated. The quasi-optimal topologies allow to outperform the high-fidelity optimiser by reducing the average number of optimisation iterations by $53\%$ while achieving discrepancies below $4\%$ in the optimal value of the objective functional, even in the challenging scenario of testing the model to extrapolate beyond the training and validation domain.
title A surrogate model for topology optimisation of elastic structures via parametric autoencoders
topic Numerical Analysis
Artificial Intelligence
Computational Engineering, Finance, and Science
Machine Learning
Optimization and Control
49M41, 74P05, 74P15, 74S05, 65M60, 65M30
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2507.22539