# Minimizing Structural Vibrations via Guided Flow Matching Design Optimization

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/2506.15263 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/2506.15263/

## Key facts

- No citing papers in the map yet (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- Builds on 22 of its 46 references that are in the map.
- First posted on arXiv 18 Jun 2025.

## Builds on (most cited first, 22 of 22)

- [Denoising Diffusion Probabilistic Models](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2006.11239/) (2020)
- [PyTorch: An Imperative Style, High-Performance Deep Learning Library](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1912.01703/) (2019)
- [Score-Based Generative Modeling through Stochastic Differential Equations](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2011.13456/) (2020)
- [Diffusion Models Beat GANs on Image Synthesis](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2105.05233/) (2021)
- [Deep Unsupervised Learning using Nonequilibrium Thermodynamics](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1503.03585/) (2015)
- [Classifier-Free Diffusion Guidance](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2207.12598/) (2022)
- [Flow Matching for Generative Modeling](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2210.02747/) (2022)
- [Neural Ordinary Differential Equations](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1806.07366/) (2018)
- [GLIDE: Towards Photorealistic Image Generation and Editing with Text-Guided Diffusion Models](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2112.10741/) (2021)
- [Diffusion Posterior Sampling for General Noisy Inverse Problems](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2209.14687/) (2022)
- [Stochastic Interpolants: A Unifying Framework for Flows and Diffusions](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2303.08797/) (2023)
- [Improving and generalizing flow-based generative models with minibatch optimal transport](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2302.00482/) (2023)
- [SiT: Exploring Flow and Diffusion-based Generative Models with Scalable Interpolant Transformers](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2401.08740/) (2024)
- [Flow Matching Guide and Code](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2412.06264/) (2024)
- [Constrained Synthesis with Projected Diffusion Models](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2402.03559/) (2024)
- [Diffusion Models Beat GANs on Topology Optimization](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2208.09591/) (2022)
- [Aligning Optimization Trajectories with Diffusion Models for Constrained Design Generation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2305.18470/) (2023)
- [Training Free Guided Flow Matching with Optimal Control](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2410.18070/) (2024)
- [Compositional Generative Inverse Design](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2401.13171/) (2024)
- [Geometry-Informed Neural Networks](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2402.14009/) (2024)
- [ShipGen: A Diffusion Model for Parametric Ship Hull Generation with Multiple Objectives and Constraints](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2311.06315/) (2023)
- [Learning to Predict Structural Vibrations](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2310.05469/) (2023)

## Abstract (arXiv)

Structural vibrations are a source of unwanted noise in engineering systems like cars, trains or airplanes. Minimizing these vibrations is crucial for improving passenger comfort. This work presents a novel design optimization approach based on guided flow matching for reducing vibrations by placing beadings (indentations) in plate-like structures. Our method integrates a generative flow matching model and a surrogate model trained to predict structural vibrations. During the generation process, the flow matching model pushes towards manufacturability while the surrogate model pushes to low-vibration solutions. The flow matching model and its training data implicitly define the design space, enabling a broader exploration of potential solutions as no optimization of manually-defined design parameters is required. We apply our method to a range of differentiable optimization objectives, including direct optimization of specific eigenfrequencies through careful construction of the objective function. Results demonstrate that our method generates diverse and manufacturable plate designs with reduced structural vibrations compared to designs from random search, a criterion-based design heuristic and genetic optimization. The code and data are available from https://github.com/ecker-lab/Optimizing_Vibrating_Plates.
