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IMAGE: This visualization shows the deep-learning approach in predicting physical fields given different input geometries. The left figure shows a varying geometry of the composite in which the soft material is...
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Credit: Courtesy of Zhenze Yang, Markus Buehler, et al
Isaac Newton may have met his match.
For centuries, engineers have relied on physical laws -- developed by Newton and others -- to understand the stresses and strains on the materials they work with. But solving those equations can be a computational slog, especially for complex materials.
MIT researchers have developed a technique to quickly determine certain properties of a material, like stress and strain, based on an image of the material showing its internal structure. The approach could one day eliminate the need for arduous physics-based calculations, instead relying on computer vision and machine learning to generate estimates in real time.