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Zero-shot rib design: merging training-free generative prior with topology optimization

arxiv.org/abs/2609.10643

Updated 15 min ago · first seen 11 Sept 2026

paper_01M294FNQ822XWE5ABSRM2Z9ZZ

Published
11 Sept 2026
T1 · 15 min ago
arXiv
2609.10643
T1 · 15 min ago
Category
cs.LG
T1 · 15 min ago

Abstract

Natural load-bearing patterns such as leaf venation, trabecular bone, and spider webs achieve high stiffness per unit mass, yet classical topology optimizers rarely reach such geometries, and few let engineers express structural design intent through natural language. This work treats a frozen text-to-image diffusion model as a training-free source of design knowledge and distills it into the physics loop of density-based topology optimization via score distillation sampling, so that a text prompt becomes an explicit, machine-interpretable representation of engineer intent. The prompt-induced generative gradient and the finite element sensitivity are combined at every iteration, letting physics decide which prompt-induced features survive. In 245 primary SDS runs spanning four geometric domains and two physics regimes, 38 of 49 prompt--domain combinations achieved statistically significant compliance reductions (up to $-31.5\%$ mechanical and $-23.0\%$ thermoelastic), outperforming gradient-based baselines. Cross-domain morphological analysis identifies a recurring structural signature of improvement: in most domains the generative prior suppresses dead-end branches in the rib skeleton, with endpoint--compliance correlation $r = +0.56$ to $+0.99$. A Heaviside projection with $\beta$-continuation resolves a pronounced intermediate-density tendency in this diffusion--physics coupling ($42.6\%$ to $<3\%$), and an automated skeleton-based pipeline converts optimized density fields into \rev{candidate geometry ready for computer-aided design. By retargeting the generative prior across domains, loading conditions, and physics objectives through a change of text prompt, with each new problem's physics setup specified separately, the framework uses a pretrained generative model as a reusable, training-free prior for engineering design.

Authors 2

Yongmin Kwon, Namwoo Kang

Specification

Official page

Source:arXiv (Atom API + RSS)T1observed 15 min agohigh

Arxiv announce type
new

Source:arXiv (Atom API + RSS)T1observed 15 min agohigh

arXiv id
2609.10643

Source:arXiv (Atom API + RSS)T1observed 15 min agohigh

Categories
cs.LG, physics.app-ph

Source:arXiv (Atom API + RSS)T1observed 15 min agohigh

PDF

Source:arXiv (Atom API + RSS)T1observed 15 min agohigh

Primary category
cs.LG

Source:arXiv (Atom API + RSS)T1observed 15 min agohigh

Published
11 Sept 2026

Source:arXiv (Atom API + RSS)T1observed 15 min agohigh

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Provenance

Attributed facts

9

Source tiers

T19

Freshest observation

15 min ago

Conflicts

None