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We propose a hybrid discrete-continuous algorithm for flight planning in free flight airspaces. In a first step, our DisCOptER method discrete-continuous optimization for enhanced resolution) computes a globally optimal approximate flight path on a discretization of the problem using the A* method. This route initializes a Newton method that converges rapidly to the smooth optimum in a second step. The correctness, accuracy, and complexity of the method are goverened by the choice of the crossover point that determines the coarseness of the discretization. We analyze the optimal choice of the crossover point and demonstrate the asymtotic superority of DisCOptER over a purely discrete approach.
Globally optimal free flight trajectory optimization can be achieved with a combination of discrete and continuous optimization. A key requirement is that Newton's method for continuous optimization converges in a sufficiently large neighborhood around a minimizer. We show in this paper that, under certain assumptions, this is the case.
Convergence Properties of Newton's Method for Globally Optimal Free Flight Trajectory Optimization
(2023)
The algorithmic efficiency of Newton-based methods for Free Flight Trajectory Optimization is heavily influenced by the size of the domain of convergence. We provide numerical evidence that the convergence radius is much larger in practice than what the theoretical worst case bounds suggest. The algorithm can be further improved by a convergence-enhancing domain decomposition.
The paper deals with three different Newton algorithms that have recently been worked out in the general frame of affine invariance. Of particular interest is their performance in the numerical solution of discretized boundary value problems (BVPs) for nonlinear partial differential equations (PDEs). Exact Newton methods, where the arising linear systems are solved by direct elimination, and inexact Newton methods, where an inner iteration is used instead, are synoptically presented, both in affine invariant convergence theory and in numerical experiments. The three types of algorithms are: (a) affine covariant (formerly just called affine invariant) Newton algorithms, oriented toward the iterative errors, (b) affine contravariant Newton algorithms, based on iterative residual norms, and (c) affine conjugate Newton algorithms for convex optimization problems and discrete nonlinear elliptic PDEs.
This paper surveys the required mathematics for a typical challenging problem from computational medicine, the cancer therapy planning in deep regional hyperthermia. In the course of many years of close cooperation with clinics, the medical problem gave rise to quite a number of subtle mathematical problems, part of which had been unsolved when the common project started. Efficiency of numerical algorithms, i.e. computational speed and monitored reliability, play a decisive role for the medical treatment. Off-the-shelf software had turned out to be not sufficient to meet the requirements of medicine. Rather, new mathematical theory as well as new numerical algorithms had to be developed. In order to make our algorithms useful in the clinical environment, new visualization software, a virtual lab, including 3D geometry processing of individual virtual patients had to be designed and implemented. Moreover, before the problems could be attacked by numerical algorithms, careful mathematical modelling had to be done. Finally, parameter identification and constrained optimization for the PDEs had to be newly analyzed and realized over the individual patient's geometry. Our new techniques had an impact on the specificity of the individual patients' treatment and on the construction of an improved hyperthermia applicator.
The finite element setting for nonlinear elliptic PDEs directly leads to the minimization of convex functionals. Uniform ellipticity of the underlying PDE shows up as strict convexity of the arising nonlinear functional. The paper analyzes computational variants of Newton's method for convex optimization in an affine conjugate setting, which reflects the appropriate affine transformation behavior for this class of problems. First, an affine conjugate Newton--Mysovskikh type theorem on the local quadratic convergence of the exact Newton method in Hilbert spaces is given. It can be easily extended to inexact Newton methods, where the inner iteration is only approximately solved. For fixed finite dimension, a special implementation of a Newton--PCG algorithm is worked out. In this case, the suggested monitor for the inner iteration guarantees quadratic convergence of the outer iteration. In infinite dimensional problems, the PCG method may be just formally replaced by any Galerkin method such as FEM for linear elliptic problems. Instead of the algebraic inner iteration errors we now have to control the FE discretization errors, which is a standard task performed within any adaptive multilevel method. A careful study of the information gain per computational effort leads to the result that the quadratic convergence mode of the Newton--Galerkin algorithm is the best mode for the fixed dimensional case, whereas for an adaptive variable dimensional code a special linear convergence mode of the algorithm is definitely preferable. The theoretical results are then illustrated by numerical experiments with a {\sf NEWTON--KASKADE} algorithm.
The paper deals with the multilevel solution of {\em elliptic} partial differential equations (PDEs) in a {\em finite element} setting: {\em uniform ellipticity} of the PDE then goes with {\em strict monotonicity} of the derivative of a nonlinear convex functional. A {\em Newton multigrid method} is advocated, wherein {\em linear residuals} are evaluated within the multigrid method for the computation of the Newton corrections. The globalization is performed by some {\em damping} of the ordinary Newton corrections. The convergence results and the algorithm may be regarded as an extension of those for local Newton methods presented recently by the authors. An {\em affine conjugate} global convergence theory is given, which covers both the {\em exact} Newton method (neglecting the occurrence of approximation errors) and {\em inexact} Newton--Galerkin methods addressing the crucial issue of accuracy matching between discretization and iteration errors. The obtained theoretical results are directly applied for the construction of adaptive algorithms. Finally, illustrative numerical experiments with a~{\sf NEWTON--KASKADE} code are documented.
In the clinical cancer therapy of regional hyperthermia nonlinear perfusion effects inside and outside the tumor seem to play a not negligible role. A stationary model of such effects leads to a nonlinear Helmholtz term within an elliptic boundary value problem. The present paper reports about the application of a recently designed adaptive multilevel FEM to this problem. For several 3D virtual patients, nonlinear versus linear model is studied. Moreover, the numerical efficiency of the new algorithm is compared with a former application of an adaptive FEM to the corresponding instationary model PDE.
Parallel in time methods for solving initial value problems are a means to increase the parallelism of numerical simulations. Hybrid parareal schemes interleaving the parallel in time iteration with an iterative solution of the individual time steps are among the most efficient methods for general nonlinear problems. Despite the hiding of communication time behind computation, communication has in certain situations a significant impact on the total runtime. Here we present strict, yet no sharp, error bounds for hybrid parareal methods with inexact communication due to lossy data compression, and derive theoretical estimates of the impact of compression on parallel efficiency of the algorithms. These and some computational experiments suggest that compression is a viable method to make hybrid parareal schemes robust with respect to low bandwidth setups.
This paper is concerned with the sensitivities of function space oriented interior point approximations in parameter dependent problems. For an abstract setting that covers control constrained optimal control problems, the convergence of interior point sensitivities to the sensitivities of the optimal solution is shown. Error bounds for $L_q$ norms are derived and illustrated with numerical examples.
Ray Tracing Boundary Value Problems: Simulation and SAFT Reconstruction for Ultrasonic Testing
(2016)
The application of advanced imaging techniques for the ultrasonic inspection of inhomogeneous anisotropic materials like austenitic and dissimilar welds requires information about acoustic wave propagation through the material, in particular travel times between two points in the material. Forward ray tracing is a popular approach to determine traveling paths and arrival times but is ill suited for inverse problems since a large number of rays have to be computed in order to arrive at prescribed end points.
In this contribution we discuss boundary value problems for acoustic rays, where the ray path between two given points is determined by solving the eikonal equation. The implementation of such a two point boundary value ray tracer for sound field simulations through an austenitic weld is described and its efficiency as well as the obtained results are compared to those of a forward ray tracer. The results are validated by comparison with experimental results and commercially available UT simulation tools.
As an application, we discuss an implementation of the method for SAFT (Synthetic Aperture Focusing Technique) reconstruction. The ray tracer calculates the required travel time through the anisotropic columnar grain structure of the austenitic weld. There, the formulation of ray tracing as a boundary value problem allows a straightforward derivation of the ray path from a given transducer position to any pixel in the reconstruction area and reduces the computational cost considerably.
Carbon-fiber reinforced composites are becoming more and more important in the production of light-weight structures, e.g., in the automotive and aerospace industry. Thermography is often used for non-destructive testing of these products, especially to detect delaminations between different layers of the composite.
In this presentation, we aim at methods for defect reconstruction from thermographic measurements of such carbon-fiber reinforced composites. The reconstruction results shall not only allow to locate defects, but also give a quantitative characterization of the defect properties. We discuss the simulation of the measurement process using finite element methods, as well as the experimental validation on flat bottom holes.
Especially in pulse thermography, thin boundary layers with steep temperature gradients occurring at the heated surface need to be resolved. Here we use the combination of a 1D analytical solution combined with numerical solution of the remaining defect equation. We use the simulations to identify material parameters from the measurements.
Finally, fast heuristics for reconstructing defect geometries are applied to the acquired data, and compared for their accuracy and utility in detecting different defects like back surface defects or delaminations.
This paper presents efficient computational techniques for solving an optimization problem in cardiac defibrillation governed by the monodomain equations. Time-dependent electrical currents injected at different spatial positions act as the control. Inexact Newton-CG methods are used, with reduced gradient computation by adjoint solves. In order to reduce the computational complexity, adaptive mesh refinement for state and adjoint equations is performed. To reduce the high storage and bandwidth demand imposed by adjoint gradient and Hessian-vector evaluations, a lossy compression technique for storing trajectory data is applied. An adaptive choice of quantization tolerance based on error estimates is developed in order to ensure convergence. The efficiency of the proposed approach is demonstrated on numerical examples.
Kaskade 7 is a finite element toolbox for the solution of stationary or transient systems of partial differential equations, aimed at supporting application-oriented research in numerical analysis and scientific computing. The library is written in C++ and is based on the Dune interface. The code is independent of spatial dimension and works with different grid managers. An important feature is the mix-and-match approach to discretizing systems of PDEs with different ansatz and test spaces for all variables.
We describe the mathematical concepts behind the library as well as its structure, illustrating its use at several examples on the way.
In high accuracy numerical simulations and optimal control of time-dependent processes, often both many time steps and fine spatial discretizations are needed. Adjoint gradient computation, or post-processing of simulation results, requires the storage of the solution trajectories over the whole time, if necessary together with the adaptively refined spatial grids. In this paper we discuss various techniques to reduce the memory requirements, focusing first on the storage of the solution data, which typically are double precision floating point values. We highlight advantages and disadvantages of the different approaches. Moreover, we present an algorithm for the efficient storage of adaptively refined, hierarchic grids, and the integration with the compressed storage of solution data.
For the solution of optimal control problems governed by nonlinear parabolic PDEs, methods working on the reduced objective functional are often employed to avoid a full spatio-temporal discretization of the problem. The evaluation of the reduced gradient requires one solve of
the state equation forward in time, and one backward solve of the ad-joint equation. The state enters into the adjoint equation, requiring the storage of a full 4D data set. If Newton-CG methods are used, two additional trajectories have to be stored. To get numerical results which are accurate enough, in many case very fine discretizations in time and space are necessary, which leads to a significant amount of data to be stored and transmitted to mass storage. Lossy compression methods were
developed to overcome the storage problem by reducing the accuracy of the stored trajectories. The inexact data induces errors in the reduced gradient and reduced Hessian. In this paper, we analyze the influence of such a lossy trajectory compression method on Newton-CG methods for optimal control of parabolic PDEs and design an adaptive strategy for choosing appropriate quantization tolerances.
Solvers for partial differential equations (PDE) are one of the cornerstones of computational science. For large problems, they involve huge amounts of data that needs to be stored and transmitted on all levels of the memory hierarchy. Often, bandwidth is the limiting factor due to relatively small arithmetic intensity, and increasingly so due to the growing disparity between computing power and bandwidth. Consequently, data compression techniques have been investigated and tailored towards the specific requirements of PDE solvers during the last decades. This paper surveys data compression challenges and corresponding solution approaches for PDE problems, covering all levels of the memory hierarchy from mass storage up to main memory. Exemplarily, we illustrate concepts at particular methods, and give references to alternatives.
Pulse thermography is a non-destructive testing method based on infrared imaging of transient thermal patterns. Heating the surface of the structure under test for a short period of time generates a non-stationary temperature distribution and thus a thermal contrast between the defect and the sound material. Due to measurement noise, preprocessing of the experimental data is necessary, before reconstruction algorithms can be applied. We propose a decomposition of the measured temperature into Green's function solutions to eliminate noise.
This paper presents concepts and implementation of the finite element toolbox Kaskade 7, a flexible C++ code for solving elliptic and parabolic PDE systems. Issues such as problem formulation, assembly and adaptivity are discussed at the example of optimal control problems. Trajectory compression for parabolic optimization problems is considered as a case study.
We consider Large Deformation Diffeomorphic Metric Mapping of general $m$-currents. After stating an optimization algorithm in the function space of admissable morph generating velocity fields, two innovative aspects in this framework are presented and numerically investigated: First, we spatially discretize the velocity field with conforming adaptive finite elements and discuss advantages of this new approach. Second, we directly compute the temporal evolution of discrete $m$-current attributes.