Replace Human Intelligence with Fast and Smart Geometric Reasoning and Graph Neural Network to Accelerate Next Gen ModSim Workflows
- Sandia National Laboratories (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States)
We present an agent-guided approach to CAD geometry decomposition that automates hex/hybrid meshing with graph neural networks (GNNs) to accelerate next-generation ModSim workflows. Our end-to-end pipeline (i) reduces 3D boundary-representation (B-Rep) models to a 2D chordal axis skeleton (CAT) and then to a 1D bipartite graph of surface and curve nodes, (ii) assigns per node labels as Cubit® WebCut actions, (iii) trains a multi-action GNN under supervised learning, and (iv) predicts five surface-node and three curve-node actions on out-of-distribution test geometries. Each graph node carries geometric, topological, and meshing attributes drawn from the B-Rep “skin” and CAT “skeleton,” with two-way mappings across 3D↔2D↔1D representations to maintain traceability back to 3D CAD. The supervised learning model exhibits stable convergence of the binary cross-entropy loss and achieves 98.7% accuracy on unseen lattice models. To operationalize decision-making, we rank predicted commands by geometric significance and prototyped the agent-guided workflow through the Cubit® Meshing PowerTool GUI. As a stretch goal, we explore reinforcement learning (RL) to reduce or remove label requirements and to learn policies for action sequences that maximize total reward (e.g., size of hex-meshable regions and resulting hex mesh quality). When all-hex meshing is not feasible, the agent assists in producing hybrid meshes—prioritizing hex in critical regions and transitioning to tetrahedral elements (tets) elsewhere—maintaining fidelity while ensuring robustness. The overarching objective is to replace manual, heuristics-based decomposition with data-driven, reproducible automation, cutting meshing turnaround time by orders of magnitude. We anticipate direct impact on simulation workflows through intelligent, scalable decomposition of complex CAD models into hex-meshable subdomains.
- Research Organization:
- Sandia National Laboratories (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE Laboratory Directed Research and Development (LDRD) Program; USDOE National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA)
- DOE Contract Number:
- NA0003525
- OSTI ID:
- 2997308
- Report Number(s):
- SAND--2025-11995R; 1789956
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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