Machine learning enhanced models: enabling new materials for hypersonic and protection applications

Within the Army science and technology enterprise, DEVCOM-ARL is chartered to conduct disruptive foundational research, engage as the Army’s primary collaborative link to the scientific community, and interface to shape future fighting concepts. We crystalize these ideas and the impetus to perform these functions at the pace of innovation as ‘Operationalize Science for Transformational Overmatch’. Simply put, we seek to accelerate discovery and transition breakthroughs to the Warfighter. Rule-based artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) tools present powerful avenues for exploring an information landscape in discovering novel materials for applications in extreme conditions (e.g. high-strain rate, high-g loading, high temperature). Such approaches present considerable opportunity in exploring new frontiers for materials used in protection and lethality applications, especially when coupled with new approaches that allow larger and richer datasets, computational tools, and data infrastructure for collaboration. Broadly, AI/ML can be used to augment individual steps in the synthesis-processing-characterization pipeline, be used for scalebridging to draw greater information from more tractable experimental approaches, and be used to guide a broader research loop.