arXiv subjects

Charbel Farhat

Publications and source records attributed to Charbel Farhat.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

Nonlinear projection-based model order reduction with machine learning regression for closure error modeling in the latent space

A significant advancement in nonlinear projection-based model order reduction (PMOR) is presented through a highly effective methodology. This methodology employs Gaussian process regression (GPR) and radial basis function (RBF) interpolation for closure error modeling in the latent space, offering notable gains in efficiency and expanding the scope of PMOR. Moving beyond the limitations of deep artificial neural networks (ANNs), previously used for this task, this approach provides crucial advantages in terms of interpretability and a reduced demand for extensive training data. The capabilities of GPR and RBFs are showcased in two demanding applications: a two-dimensional parametric inviscid Burgers problem, featuring propagating shocks across the entire computational domain, and a complex three-dimensional turbulent flow simulation around an Ahmed body. The results demonstrate that this innovative approach preserves accuracy and achieves substantial improvements in efficiency and interpretability when contrasted with traditional PMOR and ANN-based closure modeling.

physics.flu-dyn↗

arXiv2025

Towards Generative Design Using Optimal Transport for Shape Exploration and Solution Field Interpolation

Generative Design (GD) combines artificial intelligence (AI), physics-based modeling, and multi-objective optimization to autonomously explore and refine engineering designs. Despite its promise in aerospace, automotive, and other high-performance applications, current GD methods face critical challenges: AI approaches require large datasets and often struggle to generalize; topology optimization is computationally intensive and difficult to extend to multiphysics problems; and model order reduction for evolving geometries remains underdeveloped. To address these challenges, we introduce a unified, structure-preserving framework for GD based on optimal transport (OT), enabling simultaneous interpolation of complex geometries and their associated physical solution fields across evolving design spaces, even with non-matching meshes and substantial shape changes. This capability leverages Gaussian splatting to provide a continuous, mesh-independent representation of the solution and Wasserstein barycenters to enable smooth, mathematically ''mass''-preserving blending of geometries, offering a major advance over surrogate models tied to static meshes. Our framework efficiently interpolates positive scalar fields across arbitrarily shaped, evolving geometries without requiring identical mesh topology or dimensionality. OT also naturally preserves localized physical features -- such as stress concentrations or sharp gradients -- by conserving the spatial distribution of quantities, interpreted as ''mass'' in a mathematical sense, rather than averaging them, avoiding artificial smoothing. Preliminary extensions to signed and vector fields are presented. Representative test cases demonstrate enhanced efficiency, adaptability, and physical fidelity, establishing a foundation for future foundation-model-powered generative design workflows.

cs.CE↗

arXiv2025

A Reduced Order Model conditioned on monitoring features for estimation and uncertainty quantification in engineered systems

Reduced Order Models (ROMs) form essential tools across engineering domains by virtue of their function as surrogates for computationally intensive digital twinning simulators. Although purely data-driven methods are available for ROM construction, schemes that allow to retain a portion of the physics tend to enhance the interpretability and generalization of ROMs. However, physics-based techniques can adversely scale when dealing with nonlinear systems that feature parametric dependencies. This study introduces a generative physics-based ROM that is suited for nonlinear systems with parametric dependencies and is additionally able to quantify the confidence associated with the respective estimates. A main contribution of this work is the conditioning of these parametric ROMs to features that can be derived from monitoring measurements, feasibly in an online fashion. This is contrary to most existing ROM schemes, which remain restricted to the prescription of the physics-based, and usually a priori unknown, system parameters. Our work utilizes conditional Variational Autoencoders to continuously map the required reduction bases to a feature vector extracted from limited output measurements, while additionally allowing for a probabilistic assessment of the ROM-estimated Quantities of Interest. An auxiliary task using a neural network-based parametrization of suitable probability distributions is introduced to re-establish the link with physical model parameters. We verify the proposed scheme on a series of simulated case studies incorporating effects of geometric and material nonlinearity under parametric dependencies related to system properties and input load characteristics.

cs.CE↗

arXiv2025

Rank Reduction Autoencoders

The choice of an appropriate bottleneck dimension and the application of effective regularization are both essential for Autoencoders to learn meaningful representations from unlabeled data. In this paper, we introduce a new class of deterministic autoencoders, Rank Reduction Autoencoders (RRAEs), which regularize their latent spaces by employing a truncated singular value decomposition (SVD) during training. In RRAEs, the bottleneck is defined by the rank of the latent matrix, thereby alleviating the dependence of the encoder/decoder architecture on the bottleneck size. This approach enabled us to propose an adaptive algorithm (aRRAEs) that efficiently determines the optimal bottleneck size during training. We empirically demonstrate that both RRAEs and aRRAEs are stable, scalable, and reliable, as they do not introduce any additional training hyperparameters. We evaluate our proposed architecture on a synthetic data set, as well as on MNIST, Fashion MNIST, and CelebA. Our results show that RRAEs offer several advantages over Vanilla AEs with both large and small latent spaces, and outperform other regularizing AE architectures.

cs.LG↗

arXiv2022

Neural-Network-Augmented Projection-Based Model Order Reduction for Mitigating the Kolmogorov Barrier to Reducibility of CFD Models

Inspired by our previous work on mitigating the Kolmogorov barrier using a quadratic approximation manifold, we propose in this paper a computationally tractable approach for combining a projection-based reduced-order model (PROM) and an artificial neural network (ANN) for mitigating the Kolmogorov barrier to reducibility of convection-dominated flow problems. The main objective the PROM-ANN concept that we propose is to reduce the dimensionality of the online approximation of the solution beyond what is possible using affine and quadratic approximation manifolds. In contrast to previous approaches for constructing arbitrarily nonlinear manifold approximations for nonlinear model reduction that exploited one form or another of ANN, the training of the PROM-ANN we propose in this paper does not involve data whose dimension scales with that of the high-dimensional model; and this PROM-ANN is hyperreducible using any well-established hyperreduction method. Hence, unlike many other ANN-based approaches, the PROM-ANN concept we propose in this paper is practical for large-scale and industry-relevant CFD problems. Its potential is demonstrated here for a parametric, shock-dominated, benchmark problem.

cs.CE↗

arXiv2022

Linear Reduced Order Model Predictive Control

Model predictive controllers use dynamics models to solve constrained optimal control problems. However, computational requirements for real-time control have limited their use to systems with low-dimensional models. Nevertheless, high-dimensional models arise in many settings, for example discretization methods for generating finite-dimensional approximations to partial differential equations can result in models with thousands to millions of dimensions. In such cases, reduced order models (ROMs) can significantly reduce computational requirements, but model approximation error must be considered to guarantee controller performance. In this work, a reduced order model predictive control (ROMPC) scheme is proposed to solve robust, output feedback, constrained optimal control problems for high-dimensional linear systems. Computational efficiency is obtained by using projection-based ROMs, and guarantees on robust constraint satisfaction and stability are provided. Performance of the approach is demonstrated in simulation for several examples, including an aircraft control problem leveraging an inviscid computational fluid dynamics model with dimension 998,930.

eess.SY↗

arXiv2022

Quadratic Approximation Manifold for Mitigating the Kolmogorov Barrier in Nonlinear Projection-Based Model Order Reduction

A quadratic approximation manifold is presented for performing nonlinear, projection-based, model order reduction (PMOR). It constitutes a departure from the traditional affine subspace approximation that is aimed at mitigating the Kolmogorov barrier for nonlinear PMOR, particularly for convection-dominated transport problems. It builds on the data-driven approach underlying the traditional construction of projection-based reduced-order models (PROMs); is application-independent; is linearization-free; and therefore is robust for highly nonlinear problems. Most importantly, this approximation leads to quadratic PROMs that deliver the same accuracy as their traditional counterparts using however a much smaller dimension -- typically, $n_2 \sim \sqrt n_1$, where $n_2$ and $n_1$ denote the dimensions of the quadratic and traditional PROMs, respectively. The computational advantages of the proposed high-order approach to nonlinear PMOR over the traditional approach are highlighted for the detached-eddy simulation-based prediction of the Ahmed body turbulent wake flow, which is a popular CFD benchmark problem in the automotive industry. For a fixed accuracy level, these advantages include: a reduction of the total offline computational cost by a factor greater than five; a reduction of its online wall clock time by a factor greater than 32; and a reduction of the wall clock time of the underlying high-dimensional model by a factor greater than two orders of magnitude.

cs.CE↗

arXiv2021

A Computationally Tractable Framework for Nonlinear Dynamic Multiscale Modeling of Membrane Fabric

A general-purpose computational homogenization framework is proposed for the nonlinear dynamic analysis of membranes exhibiting complex microscale and/or mesoscale heterogeneity characterized by in-plane periodicity that cannot be effectively treated by a conventional method, such as woven fabrics. The framework is a generalization of the "finite element squared" (or FE2) method in which a localized portion of the periodic subscale structure is modeled using finite elements. The numerical solution of displacement driven problems involving this model can be adapted to the context of membranes by a variant of the Klinkel-Govindjee method[1] originally proposed for using finite strain, three-dimensional material models in beam and shell elements. This approach relies on numerical enforcement of the plane stress constraint and is enabled by the principle of frame invariance. Computational tractability is achieved by introducing a regression-based surrogate model informed by a physics-inspired training regimen in which FE$^2$ is utilized to simulate a variety of numerical experiments including uniaxial, biaxial and shear straining of a material coupon. Several alternative surrogate models are evaluated including an artificial neural network. The framework is demonstrated and validated for a realistic Mars landing application involving supersonic inflation of a parachute canopy made of woven fabric.

cs.CE↗

arXiv2020

Homogenized Flux-Body Force Treatment of Compressible Viscous Porous Wall Boundary Conditions

A homogenization approach is proposed for the treatment of porous wall boundary conditions in the computation of compressible viscous flows. Like any other homogenization approach, it eliminates the need for pore-resolved fluid meshes and therefore enables practical flow simulations in computational fluid domains with porous wall boundaries. Unlike alternative approaches however, it does not require prescribing a mass flow rate and does not introduce in the computational model a heuristic discharge coefficient. Instead, it models the inviscid flux through a porous wall surrounded by the flow as a weighted average of the inviscid flux at an impermeable surface and that through pores. It also introduces a body force term in the governing equations to account for friction loss along the pore boundaries. The source term depends on the thickness of the porous wall and the concept of an equivalent single pore. The feasibility of the latter concept is demonstrated using low-speed permeability test data for the fabric of the Mars Science Laboratory parachute canopy. The overall homogenization approach is illustrated with a series of supersonic flow computations through the same fabric and verified using supersonic, pore-resolved numerical simulations.

physics.flu-dyn↗

arXiv2020

Mesh sampling and weighting for the hyperreduction of nonlinear Petrov-Galerkin reduced-order models with local reduced-order bases

The energy-conserving sampling and weighting (ECSW) method is a hyperreduction method originally developed for accelerating the performance of Galerkin projection-based reduced-order models (PROMs) associated with large-scale finite element models, when the underlying projected operators need to be frequently recomputed as in parametric and/or nonlinear problems. In this paper, this hyperreduction method is extended to Petrov-Galerkin PROMs where the underlying high-dimensional models can be associated with arbitrary finite element, finite volume, and finite difference semi-discretization methods. Its scope is also extended to cover local PROMs based on piecewise-affine approximation subspaces, such as those designed for mitigating the Kolmogorov $n$-width barrier issue associated with convection-dominated flow problems. The resulting ECSW method is shown in this paper to be robust and accurate. In particular, its offline phase is shown to be fast and parallelizable, and the potential of its online phase for large-scale applications of industrial relevance is demonstrated for turbulent flow problems with $O(10^7)$ and $O(10^8)$ degrees of freedom. For such problems, the online part of the ECSW method proposed in this paper for Petrov-Galerkin PROMs is shown to enable wall-clock time and CPU time speedup factors of several orders of magnitude while delivering exceptional accuracy.

math.NA↗

arXiv2020

Gradient-based Constrained Optimization Using a Database of Linear Reduced-Order Models

A methodology grounded in model reduction is presented for accelerating the gradient-based solution of a family of linear or nonlinear constrained optimization problems where the constraints include at least one linear Partial Differential Equation (PDE). A key component of this methodology is the construction, during an offline phase, of a database of pointwise, linear, Projection-based Reduced-Order Models (PROM)s associated with a design parameter space and the linear PDE(s). A parameter sampling procedure based on an appropriate saturation assumption is proposed to maximize the efficiency of such a database of PROMs. A real-time method is also presented for interpolating at any queried but unsampled parameter vector in the design parameter space the relevant sensitivities of a PROM. The practical feasibility, computational advantages, and performance of the proposed methodology are demonstrated for several realistic, nonlinear, aerodynamic shape optimization problems governed by linear aeroelastic constraints.

math.NA↗

arXiv2020

In-situ adaptive reduction of nonlinear multiscale structural dynamics models

Conventional offline training of reduced-order bases in a predetermined region of a parameter space leads to parametric reduced-order models that are vulnerable to extrapolation. This vulnerability manifests itself whenever a queried parameter point lies in an unexplored region of the parameter space. This paper addresses this issue by presenting an in-situ, adaptive framework for nonlinear model reduction where computations are performed by default online, and shifted offline as needed. The framework is based on the concept of a database of local Reduced-Order Bases (ROBs), where locality is defined in the parameter space of interest. It achieves accuracy by updating on-the-fly a pre-computed ROB, and approximating the solution of a dynamical system along its trajectory using a sequence of most-appropriate local ROBs. It achieves efficiency by managing the dimension of a local ROB, and incorporating hyperreduction in the process. While sufficiently comprehensive, the framework is described in the context of dynamic multiscale computations in solid mechanics. In this context, even in a nonparametric setting of the macroscale problem and when all offline, online, and adaptation overhead costs are accounted for, the proposed computational framework can accelerate a single three-dimensional, nonlinear, multiscale computation by an order of magnitude, without compromising accuracy.

math.NA↗

arXiv2020

Learning Constitutive Relations from Indirect Observations Using Deep Neural Networks

We present a new approach for predictive modeling and its uncertainty quantification for mechanical systems, where coarse-grained models such as constitutive relations are derived directly from observation data. We explore the use of a neural network to represent the unknown constitutive relations, compare the neural networks with piecewise linear functions, radial basis functions, and radial basis function networks, and show that the neural network outperforms the others in certain cases. We analyze the approximation error of the neural networks using a scaling argument. The training and predicting processes in our framework combine the finite element method, automatic differentiation, and neural networks (or other function approximators). Our framework also allows uncertainty quantification in the form of confidence intervals. Numerical examples on a multiscale fiber-reinforced plate problem and a nonlinear rubbery membrane problem from solid mechanics demonstrate the effectiveness of our framework.

math.NA↗

arXiv2020

Model Reduction Framework with a New Take on Active Subspaces for Optimization Problems with Linearized Fluid-Structure Interaction Constraints

In this paper, a new take on the concept of an active subspace for reducing the dimension of the design parameter space in a multidisciplinary analysis and optimization (MDAO) problem is proposed. The new approach is intertwined with the concepts of adaptive parameter sampling, projection-based model order reduction, and a database of linear, projection-based reduced-order models equipped with interpolation on matrix manifolds, in order to construct an efficient computational framework for MDAO. The framework is fully developed for MDAO problems with linearized fluid-structure interaction constraints. It is applied to the aeroelastic tailoring, under flutter constraints, of two different flight systems: a flexible configuration of NASA's Common Research Model; and NASA's Aeroelastic Research Wing #2 (ARW-2). The obtained results illustrate the feasibility of the computational framework for realistic MDAO problems and highlight the benefits of the new approach for constructing an active subspace in both terms of solution optimality and wall-clock time reduction

math.NA↗

arXiv2020

On the stability of projection-based model order reduction for convection-dominated laminar and turbulent flows

In the literature on projection-based nonlinear model order reduction for fluid dynamics problems, it is often claimed that due to modal truncation, a projection-based reduced-order model (PROM) does not resolve the dissipative regime of the turbulent energy cascade and therefore is numerically unstable. Efforts at addressing this claim have ranged from attempting to model the effects of the truncated modes to enriching the classical subspace of approximation in order to account for the truncated phenomena. This paper challenges this claim. Exploring the relationship between projection-based model order reduction and semi-discretization and using numerical evidence from three relevant flow problems, it argues in an orderly manner that the real culprit behind most if not all reported numerical instabilities of PROMs for turbulence and convection-dominated turbulent flow problems is the Galerkin framework that has been used for constructing the PROMs. The paper also shows that alternatively, a Petrov-Galerkin framework can be used to construct numerically stable PROMs for convection-dominated laminar as well as turbulent flow problems that are numerically stable and accurate, without resorting to additional closure models or tailoring of the subspace of approximation. It also shows that such alternative PROMs deliver significant speedup factors.

math.NA↗

arXiv2019

Fast Neural Network Predictions from Constrained Aerodynamics Datasets

Incorporating computational fluid dynamics in the design process of jets, spacecraft, or gas turbine engines is often challenged by the required computational resources and simulation time, which depend on the chosen physics-based computational models and grid resolutions. An ongoing problem in the field is how to simulate these systems faster but with sufficient accuracy. While many approaches involve simplified models of the underlying physics, others are model-free and make predictions based only on existing simulation data. We present a novel model-free approach in which we reformulate the simulation problem to effectively increase the size of constrained pre-computed datasets and introduce a novel neural network architecture (called a cluster network) with an inductive bias well-suited to highly nonlinear computational fluid dynamics solutions. Compared to the state-of-the-art in model-based approximations, we show that our approach is nearly as accurate, an order of magnitude faster, and easier to apply. Furthermore, we show that our method outperforms other model-free approaches.

physics.comp-ph↗

arXiv2019

Modeling, simulation and validation of supersonic parachute inflation dynamics during Mars landing

A high fidelity multi-physics Eulerian computational framework is presented for the simulation of supersonic parachute inflation during Mars landing. Unlike previous investigations in this area, the framework takes into account an initial folding pattern of the parachute, the flow compressibility effect on the fabric material porosity, and the interactions between supersonic fluid flows and the suspension lines. Several adaptive mesh refinement (AMR)-enabled, large edge simulation (LES)-based, simulations of a full-size disk-gap-band (DGB) parachute inflating in the low-density, low-pressure, carbon dioxide (CO2) Martian atmosphere are reported. The comparison of the drag histories and the first peak forces between the simulation results and experimental data collected during the NASA Curiosity Rover's Mars atmospheric entry shows reasonable agreements. Furthermore, a rudimentary material failure analysis is performed to provide an estimate of the safety factor for the parachute decelerator system. The proposed framework demonstrates the potential of using Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) and Fluid-Structure Interaction (FSI)-based simulation tools for future supersonic parachute design.

cs.CE↗

arXiv2019

An Embedded Boundary Approach for Resolving the Contribution of Cable Subsystems to Fully Coupled Fluid-Structure Interaction

Cable subsystems characterized by long, slender, and flexible structural elements are featured in numerous engineering systems. In each of them, interaction between an individual cable and the surrounding fluid is inevitable. Such a Fluid-Structure Interaction (FSI) has received little attention in the literature, possibly due to the inherent complexity associated with fluid and structural semi-discretizations of disparate spatial dimensions. This paper proposes an embedded boundary approach for filling this gap, where the dynamics of the cable are captured by a standard finite element representation $\mathcal C$ of its centerline, while its geometry is represented by a discrete surface $Σ_h$ that is embedded in the fluid mesh. The proposed approach is built on master-slave kinematics between $\mathcal C$ and $Σ_h$, a simple algorithm for computing the motion/deformation of $Σ_h$ based on the dynamic state of $\mathcal C$, and an energy-conserving method for transferring to $\mathcal C$ the loads computed on $Σ_h$. Its effectiveness is demonstrated for two highly nonlinear applications featuring large deformations and/or motions of a cable subsystem and turbulent flows: an aerial refueling model problem, and a challenging supersonic parachute inflation problem. The proposed approach is verified using numerical data, and validated using real flight data.

cs.CE↗