Advances of Soft Computing in Engineering
October 8, 2007 — October 12, 2007
Coordinator:
- Zenon Waszczyszyn (Technical Univ. of Cracow, Cracow, Poland)
The event is part of the program elaborated for the European Atelier for Engineering and Computational Sciences (EUA4X – Marie Curie program). Some of the lectures will be also available on line.
Please check available Marie Curie fellowships under “Admission and Accommodation”
Scope
Soft computing (SC) is related to biologically inspired methods, i.e. to artificial neural networks, evolutionary algorithms and fuzzy inference systems. SC is a counterpart of conventional (hard) methods and a part of the artificial intelligence computational methods. In recent years an increasing role of SC in computational mechanics of structures and materials has been observed. This is also caused by complementary features of SC to the finite element method and great potential of SC as an efficient tool in the analysis of optimum design and inverse problems.
The aim of the course is to present advances of well grounded mathematical foundations of SC, and formulation of hybrid FEM/SC computational systems to analyze various applications in structural engineering and mechanics of materials.
The main attention is focused on the stochastic background of algorithms applied in search methods. Special attention is focused on applications of genetic algorithms and genetic programming as efficient tools for the analysis of complex, engineering mechanics problems.
The Bayesian techniques and Kalman filtering are discussed as advanced methods for neural network training and design. Algorithms used for the neural network supported constitutive modelling and material identification will be extensively considered.
The interaction or coupling of SC, FEM and measured responses of structures, leading to the formulation of various computational systems, are considered. Applications of such hybrid systems in earthquake engineering and reliability of structures will be discussed.
Many special applications of SC in mechanical and structural engineering will be presented. Weight and crash-worthiness optimization of cars and aerospace components, civil engineering concrete and steel structures damage analysis will also be discussed.
The lectures are addressed to graduate, master and PhD students, post docs and researchers in engineering and science, as well as lecturers of technical universities who wish to extend their experience in SC and its various applications in mechanics and engineering.