CAREER: Bridging the Gap between Deterministic and Stochastic Structures for Mixed Stochasticity System Design

该奖项的全部或部分资金来自《2021年美国救援计划法案》(公法117-2)。由具有随机(或随机)特征的部件组成的系统或产品对复杂工程系统的设计构成了重大挑战。缺乏利用这种混合随机性结构来设计人工制品的系统方法。该学院早期职业发展计划(CALEAR)项目将建立一个新的计算框架，以弥合随机和规则结构模式之间的差距，以实现：1)具有可定制的随机性和所需特性的结构的生成性设计，以及2)由混合随机结构单元组成的混合随机结构系统的设计，以实现最佳性能。两套工程应用将用于评估该方法并展示其社会效益：储能系统中微结构材料的设计和车辆碰撞安全的混合随机性结构系统的设计。这些研究成果的广泛应用将使大容量储能材料、结构安全可靠性和汽车轻量化等依赖于混合随机性的材料和结构的广泛行业受益。此外，本文的研究成果将为电网系统、给水系统、交通系统等混合随机系统的可靠性设计提供理论和方法支持。该项目的教育和外展目标是创建一个教育-研究-产业一体化的原型，并将其应用于K-12教育外展、对当地企业的外展和大学教育。K-12教育外展将激励学生在科学和工程领域追求教育和职业。对当地企业的接触将帮助小企业和小制造商在后新冠肺炎世界中竞争。研究、行业实践和教育的结合将加强本科生和研究生的学习体验。该项目的总体研究目标是通过建立一个统一的设计空间来弥合确定性结构和随机结构之间的差距，建立一个涵盖结构模式的统一设计空间，其随机性从随机到规则。该框架实现了具有可剪裁特性和随机性的微结构/结构的创成式设计，以及由确定性和随机性结构单元组成的混合随机性结构系统的设计，以实现最佳性能。这项研究将从三个方面改变结构/微结构系统的发现和设计。首先，将为混合随机性结构开发一种首创的设计表示方法，这将使具有可定制随机性的结构设计成为可能。其次，这项研究将为确定性系统和随机系统之间的知识转移提供理论基础，以启发实现目标特性的新设计。第三，为混合随机性结构系统的稳健性和可靠性设计建立了新的设计框架。该教育和推广计划包括一个面向未被充分代表的少数族裔学校的K-12教师和学生的科学、技术、工程、艺术和数学(STEAM)项目，向当地小企业和小制造商传播研究成果，以及大学教育、研究和产业合作的整合。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

This award is funded in whole or in part under the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (Public Law 117-2).Systems or products composed of parts that have random (or stochastic) characteristics pose a significant challenge to the design of complex engineering systems. There is a lack of systematic methods for designing artifacts utilizing this type of mixed stochasticity structure. This Faculty Early Career Development Program (CAREER) project will establish a novel computational framework that bridges the gap between random and regular structural patterns to enable: 1) generative design of structures with tailorable stochasticity and desired properties and 2) design of mixed stochasticity structural systems that consist of mixed stochastic structural units to achieve optimal performance. Two sets of engineering applications will be used to evaluate the methodology and demonstrate its benefit to society: design of microstructural materials in energy storage systems and design of a mixed stochasticity structural system for vehicle impact safety. The broader application of the research developments will benefit a wide range of industries, such as high-capacity energy storage materials, structural safety and reliability, and automotive lightweighting, which rely on materials and structures with mixed stochasticity. Furthermore, the results of this research will contribute theories and methodologies that benefit the reliability design of mixed stochasticity systems, such as power grid systems, water distribution systems, and transportation systems. The education and outreach objective of this project is to create a prototype of education-research-industry integration and apply it to K-12 education outreach, outreach to local businesses, and university education. The K-12 education outreach will motivate students to pursue education and careers in science and engineering fields. The outreach to local businesses will assist small businesses and small manufacturers to compete in the post–COVID-19 world. The integration among research, industry practice, and education will strengthen the undergraduate and graduate students’ learning experiences.The overarching research goal of this project is to create a novel computational framework that bridges the gap between deterministic and stochastic structures by establishing a unified design space that covers structural patterns whose stochasticity ranges from random to regular. This framework enables generative design of microstructures/structures with tailorable properties and stochasticity, as well as design of a mixed stochasticity structural system that consists of deterministic and stochastic structural units to achieve optimal performance. This research will transform the discovery and design of structural/microstructural systems in three ways. First, a first-of-its-kind design representation method will be developed for mixed stochasticity structures that will enable the design of structures with tailorable stochasticity. Second, the research will provide a theoretical foundation for transferring knowledge between deterministic and stochastic systems to inspire new designs that achieve target properties. Third, a new design framework will be established for the robustness and reliability-based design of mixed stochasticity structural system. The education and outreach plan includes a Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Math (STEAM) project for K-12 teachers and students in underrepresented minority schools, research dissemination to local small businesses and small manufacturers, and integration among university education, research, and industrial collaboration.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.