A nonlinear extension of parametric model embedding for dimensionality reduction in parametric shape design

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Authors: Serani, Andrea, Palma, Giorgio, Diez, Matteo
Format: Preprint
Published: 2026
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author Serani, Andrea
Palma, Giorgio
Diez, Matteo
author_facet Serani, Andrea
Palma, Giorgio
Diez, Matteo
contents Dimensionality reduction is essential in simulation-based shape design, where high-dimensional parameterizations hinder optimization, surrogate modeling, and systematic design-space exploration. Parametric Model Embedding (PME) addresses this issue by constructing reduced variables from geometric information while preserving an explicit backmapping to the original design parameters. However, PME is intrinsically linear and may become inefficient when the sampled design space is governed by nonlinear geometric variability. This paper introduces a nonlinear extension of PME, denoted NLPME. The proposed framework preserves the defining principle of PME -- geometry-driven latent variables and parameter-mediated reconstruction -- while replacing the linear reduced subspace with a nonlinear latent representation. Geometry is not reconstructed directly from the latent variables; instead, the latent representation is decoded into admissible design parameters, and the corresponding geometry is recovered through a forward parametric map. The method is assessed on a bio-inspired autonomous underwater glider with a 32-dimensional parametric shape description and a CAD-based geometry-generation process. NLPME reaches a 5\% reconstruction-error threshold with \(N=5\) latent variables, compared with \(N=8\) for linear PME, and a 1\% threshold with \(N=9\), compared with \(N=15\) for PME. Comparison with a deep autoencoder shows that most of the nonlinear compression gain can be retained while preserving an explicit backmapping to the original design variables. The results establish NLPME as a compact, admissible, and engineering-compatible nonlinear reduced representation for parametric shape design spaces.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2605_11759
institution arXiv
publishDate 2026
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle A nonlinear extension of parametric model embedding for dimensionality reduction in parametric shape design
Serani, Andrea
Palma, Giorgio
Diez, Matteo
Computational Engineering, Finance, and Science
Machine Learning
Numerical Analysis
Dimensionality reduction is essential in simulation-based shape design, where high-dimensional parameterizations hinder optimization, surrogate modeling, and systematic design-space exploration. Parametric Model Embedding (PME) addresses this issue by constructing reduced variables from geometric information while preserving an explicit backmapping to the original design parameters. However, PME is intrinsically linear and may become inefficient when the sampled design space is governed by nonlinear geometric variability. This paper introduces a nonlinear extension of PME, denoted NLPME. The proposed framework preserves the defining principle of PME -- geometry-driven latent variables and parameter-mediated reconstruction -- while replacing the linear reduced subspace with a nonlinear latent representation. Geometry is not reconstructed directly from the latent variables; instead, the latent representation is decoded into admissible design parameters, and the corresponding geometry is recovered through a forward parametric map. The method is assessed on a bio-inspired autonomous underwater glider with a 32-dimensional parametric shape description and a CAD-based geometry-generation process. NLPME reaches a 5\% reconstruction-error threshold with \(N=5\) latent variables, compared with \(N=8\) for linear PME, and a 1\% threshold with \(N=9\), compared with \(N=15\) for PME. Comparison with a deep autoencoder shows that most of the nonlinear compression gain can be retained while preserving an explicit backmapping to the original design variables. The results establish NLPME as a compact, admissible, and engineering-compatible nonlinear reduced representation for parametric shape design spaces.
title A nonlinear extension of parametric model embedding for dimensionality reduction in parametric shape design
topic Computational Engineering, Finance, and Science
Machine Learning
Numerical Analysis
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2605.11759