Advances in Computational Intelligence of Polymer Composite Materials: Machine Learning Assisted Modeling, Analysis and Design

The superior multi-functional properties of polymer composites have made them an ideal choice for aerospace, automobile, marine, civil, and many other technologically demanding industries. The increasing demand of these composites calls for an extensive investigation of their physical, chemical and mechanical behavior under different exposure conditions. Machine learning (ML) has been recognized as a powerful predictive tool for data-driven multi-physical modeling, leading to unprecedented insights and exploration of the system properties beyond the capability of traditional computational and experimental analyses. Here we aim to abridge the findings of the large volume of relevant literature and highlight the broad spectrum potential of ML in applications like prediction, optimization, feature identification, uncertainty quantification, reliability and sensitivity analysis along with the framework of different ML algorithms concerning polymer composites. Challenges like the curse of dimensionality, overfitting, noise and mixed variable problems are discussed, including the latest advancements in ML that have the potential to be integrated in the field of polymer composites. Based on the extensive literature survey, a few recommendations on the exploitation of various ML algorithms for addressing different critical problems concerning polymer composites are provided along with insightful perspectives on the potential directions of future research.