Knowledge Based Three-Step Modeling Strategy Exploiting Artificial Neural Network

Abstract

Artificial Neural Network (ANN) is an important technique for modeling and optimization in engineering design. It is very suitable in modeling as it needs only the information based on relationship between the input and the output related to the problem. For further improvement in modeling, a priori knowledge about the problem such as an empirical formula, an equivalent circuit model, and a semi-analytical equation is directly embedded in ANN structure through a knowledge based modeling strategy. Three-step modeling strategy that exploits knowledge based techniques is developed to improve some properties of conventional ANN modeling such as accuracy and data requirement. All these improvements ensure better accuracy with less time consumption compared to conventional ANN modeling. The necessary knowledge in this strategy is generated in the first step through conventional ANN. Then this knowledge is embedded in the new ANN model for the second step. Final model is constructed by incorporating the existing knowledge obtained by the second step. Therefore each model generates better accuracy than previous model. Conventional ANN, prior knowledge input, and prior knowledge input with difference techniques are used to improve accuracy, time consumption, and data requirement of the modeling in three-step modeling strategy. The efficiency of three-step modeling strategy is demonstrated on the nonlinear function modeling and the high dimensional shape reconstruction problem.