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At least 19 records

MFNets: data efficient all-at-once learning of multifidelity surrogates as directed networks of information sources

We present an approach for constructing a surrogate from ensembles of information sources of varying cost and accuracy. The multifidelity surrogate encodes connections between information sources as a directed acyclic graph, and is trained via gradient-based minimization of a nonlinear least squares objective. While the vast majority of state-of-the-art assumes hierarchical connections between information sources, our approach works with flexibly structured information sources that may not admit a strict hierarchy. The formulation has two advantages: (1) increased data efficiency due to parsimonious multifidelity networks that can be tailored to the application; and (2) no constraints on the training data—we can combine noisy, non-nested evaluations of the information sources. Finally, numerical examples ranging from synthetic to physics-based computational mechanics simulations indicate the error in our approach can be orders-of-magnitude smaller, particularly in the low-data regime, than single-fidelity and hierarchical multifidelity approaches.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗

General Multifidelity Surrogate Models: Framework and Active-Learning Strategies for Efficient Rare Event Simulation

Estimating the probability of failure for complex real-world systems using high-fidelity computational models is often prohibitively expensive, especially when the probability is small. Exploiting low-fidelity models can make this process more feasible, but merging information from multiple low-fidelity and high-fidelity models poses several challenges. Here, this paper presents a robust multi-fidelity surrogate modeling strategy in which the multi-fidelity surrogate is assembled using an active learning strategy using an on-the-fly model adequacy assessment set within a subset simulation framework for efficient reliability analysis. The multi-fidelity surrogate is assembled by first applying a Gaussian process correction to each low-fidelity model and assigning a model probability based on the model's local predictive accuracy and cost. Three strategies are proposed to fuse these individual surrogates into an overall surrogate model based on model averaging and deterministic/stochastic model selection. The strategies also dictate which model evaluations are necessary. No assumptions are made about the relationships between low-fidelity models, while the high-fidelity model is assumed to be the most accurate and most computationally expensive model. Through two analytical and two numerical case studies, including a case study evaluating the failure probability of Tristructural isotropic-coated (TRISO) nuclear fuels, the algorithm is shown to be highly accurate while drastically reducing the number of high-fidelity model calls (and hence computational cost).

11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS↗

Transfer learning of neural surrogates on multifidelity groundwater simulations

Multifidelity data used in the paper published in Advances in Water Resources 206 (2025) 105140, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.advwatres.2025.105140 The code used to process the data is openly available on GitHub at https://github.com/Model-Reduction-and-UQ-Group/Transfer_Learning_K_reconstruction Computationally inexpensive surrogates of process-based models, such as deep neural networks, enable ensemble-based computations used in risk assessment, data assimilation, etc. However, generation of large datasets required to train a neural network can be as expensive as the ensemble simulations themselves. We ameliorate this challenge by using data from multifidelity (MF) groundwater simulations and transfer learning (TL) to reduce data generation costs while maintaining model accuracy. As a computational example, we train a deep convolutional neural network (CNN) to reconstruct permeability fields from saturation maps derived from a multiphase flow model. Starting with very low- and low-fidelity data generated on increasingly coarse meshes, we pretrain the CNN, followed by output-layer training and fine-tuning using only a limited number of high-fidelity samples. We demonstrate the surrogate’s robustness when interpreting low-quality inputs—such as interpolated maps or data affected by noise—which has strong implications for the applicability in practical hydrogeological scenarios. This multilevel MF-TL strategy achieves a favorable trade-off between computational efficiency and predictive accuracy, significantly outperforming high-fidelity-only approaches under the same computational budget.

Chiofalo, Alessia [University of Bologna] (ORCID:0↗

On-line Generation and Error Handling for Surrogate Models within Multifidelity Uncertainty Quantification

Uncertainty quantification is recognized as a fundamental task to obtain predictive numerical simulations. However, many realistic engineering applications require complex and computationally expensive high-fidelity numerical simulations for the accurate characterization of the system responses. Moreover, complex physical models and extreme operative conditions can easily lead to hundreds of uncertain parameters that need to be propagated through high-fidelity codes. Under these circumstances, a single fidelity approach, i.e. a workflow that only uses high-fidelity simulations to perform the uncertainty quantification task, is unfeasible due to the prohibitive overall computational cost. In recent years, multifidelity strategies have been introduced to overcome this issue. The core idea of this family of methods is to combine simulations with varying levels of fidelity/accuracy in order to obtain the multifidelity estimators or surrogates with the same accuracy of their single fidelity counterparts at a much lower computational cost. This goal is usually accomplished by defining a prioria sequence of discretization levels or physical modeling assumptions that can be used to decrease the complexity of a numerical realization and thus its computational cost. However ,less attention has been dedicated to low-fidelity models that can be built directly from the small number of high-fidelity simulations available. In this work we focus our attention on Reduced-Order Models that can be considered a particular class of data-driven approaches. Our main goal is to explore the combination of multifidelity uncertainty quantification and reduced-order models to obtain an efficient framework for propagating uncertainties through expensive numerical codes.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗

An Adaptive Bayesian Parameter Estimation of a Synchronous Generator Under Gross Errors

Polynomial-chaos-expansion-based surrogate models have recently been advocated in the literature for power system dynamic parameter estimation. Regarding the estimation of the uncertain generator parameters, a Bayesian inference framework has been proposed based on a polynomial-based reduced-order representation of the synchronous machines using assumed parameter values. Then, the non-Gaussian posterior probability distribution functions (pdfs) of these parameters are recovered through the stochastic sampling approach efficiently. However, facing very large parameter errors, the reliability of the surrogate model decreases, yielding biased estimation results. To overcome this problem, here we develop hierarchical Bayesian inference framework that processes the measurements provided by phasor measurement units, while making use of multifidelity surrogates together with the importance sampling method. The latter allows us to estimate in an efficient manner the posterior pdfs of the uncertain parameters through the normalized weights of the prior samples. To improve the accuracy of the posterior pdfs, an adaptive procedure is further adopted in the importance sampling for the gradual evolution of its proposal functions. The new proposals assist in fine-tuning the sample space and thereby help to construct surrogates with higher fidelity. Through an iterative process, this approach is able to estimate accurately and efficiently non-Gaussian posterior pdfs of the uncertain generator parameters subject to gross errors.

42 ENGINEERING↗

Linear Regression Based Multi-fidelity Surrogate for Disturbance Amplification in Multi-phase Explosion

When simulations are very expensive and many are required, as for optimization or uncertainty quantification, a way to reduce cost is using surrogates. With multiple simulations to predict the quantity of interest, some being very expensive and accurate (high-fidelity simulations) and others cheaper but less accurate (low-fidelity simulations), it may be worthwhile to use multifidelity surrogates (MFSs). Moreover, if we can afford just a few high-fidelity simulations or experiments, MFS becomes necessary. Co-Kriging, which is probably the most popular MFS, replaces both low-fidelity and high-fidelity simulations by a single MFS. A recently proposed linear regression–based MFS (LR-MFS) offers the option to correct the LF simulations instead of correcting the LF surrogate in the MFS. When the low-fidelity simulation is cheap enough for use in an application, such as optimization, this may be an attractive option. Here, we explore the performance of LR-MFS using exact and surrogate-replaced low-fidelity simulations. The concern studied is a cylindrical dispersal of 100-μ m-diameter solid particles after detonation and the quantity of interest is a measure of the amplification of the departure from axisymmetry. We find very substantial accuracy improvements for this problem using the LR-MFS with exact low-fidelity simulations. Inspired by these results, we also compare the performance of co-Kriging to the use of Kriging to correct exact low-fidelity simulations and find a similar accuracy improvement when simulations are directly used. For this problem, further improvements in accuracy are achievable by taking advantage of inherent parametric symmetries. These findings may alert users of MFSs to the possible advantages of using exact low-fidelity simulations when this is affordable.

42 ENGINEERING↗

Multifidelity validation of digital surrogates using variable-density turbulent mixing models

In this study, ensembles of experimental data are presented and utilized to compare and validate two models used in the simulation of variable-density (Atwood = 0.22), compressible turbulent mixing. Though models of this kind (Reynolds averaged NavierStokes and large-eddy simulations) have been validated extensively with more canonical flows in previous studies, here the present approach offers novelty in the complexity of the geometry, the ensemble-based validation, and the uniformity of the computational framework on which the models are tested. Moreover, all experimental and computational tasks were completed by the authors which has led to a tightly coupled experimental configuration with its “digital twin.” The experimental divergent-shock-tube facility and its data acquisition methods are described and replicated in simulation space. A 2D Euler model which neglects the turbulent mixing at the interface is optimized to experimental data using a Gaussian process. This model then serves as the basis for both the 2D RANS and 3D LES studies that make comparisons to the mixing-layer data from the experiment. A relatively simple RANS model is shown to produce good agreement with experimental data only at late flow development times. The LES ensembles generally show good agreement with experimental data but display sensitivity to the characterization of initial conditions. Resolution-dependent behavior is also observed for certain higher-order statistics of interest. Overall, the LES model successfully captures the effects of divergent geometry, compressibility, and combined nonlinear instabilities inherent to the problem. The successful prediction of mixing width and its growth rate highlight the existence of three distinct regimes in the development of the instability, each with similarities to previously studied instabilities.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗

Multifidelity Ensemble Kalman Filtering Using Surrogate Models Defined by Theory-Guided Autoencoders

Data assimilation is a Bayesian inference process that obtains an enhanced understanding of a physical system of interest by fusing information from an inexact physics-based model, and from noisy sparse observations of reality. The multifidelity ensemble Kalman filter (MFEnKF) recently developed by the authors combines a full-order physical model and a hierarchy of reduced order surrogate models in order to increase the computational efficiency of data assimilation. The standard MFEnKF uses linear couplings between models, and is statistically optimal in case of Gaussian probability densities. This work extends the MFEnKF into to make use of a broader class of surrogate model such as those based on machine learning methods such as autoencoders non-linear couplings in between the model hierarchies. We identify the right-invertibility property for autoencoders as being a key predictor of success in the forecasting power of autoencoder-based reduced order models. We propose a methodology that allows us to construct reduced order surrogate models that are more accurate than the ones obtained via conventional linear methods. Numerical experiments with the canonical Lorenz'96 model illustrate that nonlinear surrogates perform better than linear projection-based ones in the context of multifidelity ensemble Kalman filtering. We additionality show a large-scale proof-of-concept result with the quasi-geostrophic equations, showing the competitiveness of the method with a traditional reduced order model-based MFEnKF.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗

Projection-based multifidelity linear regression for data-scarce applications

Surrogate modeling for systems with high-dimensional quantities of interest remains challenging, particularly when training data are costly to acquire. This work develops multifidelity methods for multiple-input multiple-output linear regression targeting data-limited applications with high-dimensional outputs. Multifidelity methods integrate many inexpensive low-fidelity model evaluations with limited, costly high-fidelity evaluations. We introduce two projection-based multifidelity linear regression approaches with linear and nonlinear features that leverage principal component basis vectors for dimensionality reduction and combine multifidelity data through: (i) a direct data augmentation using low-fidelity data, and (ii) a data augmentation incorporating explicit linear corrections between low-fidelity and high-fidelity data. The data augmentation approaches combine high-fidelity and low-fidelity data into a unified training set and train the linear regression model through weighted least squares with fidelity-specific weights. We introduce a proximity-based weighting scheme with automatic weight selection strategy through cross-validation. Here, the proposed multifidelity linear regression methods are demonstrated on approximating the surface pressure field of a hypersonic vehicle in flight and the temperature field on an aircraft disc braking system. In an ultra low-data regime of no more than twelve high-fidelity samples, multifidelity linear regression achieves approximately 2% – 12% improvement in median accuracy and a higher R 2 score relative to single-fidelity methods at comparable computational cost.

data augmentation↗

Machine learning materials physics: Surrogate optimization and multi-fidelity algorithms predict precipitate morphology in an alternative to phase field dynamics

Machine learning has been effective at detecting patterns and predicting the response of systems that behave free of natural laws. Examples include learning crowd dynamics, recommender systems and autonomous mobility. There also have been applications to the search for new materials that draw upon big-data classification problems. Though, when it comes to physical systems governed by conservation laws, the role of machine learning has been more limited. Here, we present our recent work in exploring the role of machine learning methods in discovering, or aiding, the search for physics. Specifically, we focus on using machine learning algorithms to represent high-dimensional free energy surfaces with the goal of identifying precipitate morphologies in alloy systems. Traditionally, this problem has been approached by combining phase field models, which impose first-order dynamics, with elasticity, to traverse a free energy landscape in search of minima. Equilibrium precipitate morphologies occur at these minima. Here, we exploit the machine learning methods to represent high-dimensional data, combined with surrogate optimization, sensitivity analysis and multifidelity modeling as an alternate framework to explore phenomena controlled by energy extremization. This combination of data-driven methods offers an alternative to the imposition of first-order dynamics via phase field methods, and represents one aspect of applying machine learning to materials physics.

42 ENGINEERING↗