Artificial Intelligence Applications for Composite Materials: A Review

Abstract

Background: Composite materials are not easy to model using traditional experiments and physics-based approaches due to their diverse properties and multiscale nature. This review summarizes how artificial intelligence (AI) methodologies, including machine learning, deep learning, and generative AI, have been increasingly transforming and how they have been increasingly applied to composite materials research. It combines their possible use across the prediction of their properties, damage detection, structural health monitoring, and materials design. Methods: Searches were performed in Scopus and Google Scholar for articles published using combined keywords such as “(artificial intelligence OR machine learning OR deep learning OR Generative AI) AND (composite OR fiber reinforced) AND (prediction OR optimization OR characterization)”. The search strategy was designed to capture both fundamental developments in AI methodologies relevant to materials research and their specific applications to composite materials. The identified publications underwent a two-step selection process: (i) an initial review of titles and abstracts, and (ii) a detailed full-text evaluation. Studies were included if they provided explicit descriptions of AI models, clearly specified datasets, and applied quantitative performance assessments to composite materials-related applications such as material property prediction, damage detection, characterization, or manufacturing process optimization. For each selected article, relevant information was extracted in a structured and consistent manner, including the type of composite material, AI methodology, input parameters, dataset characteristics and size, validation methods, and application domain. These data were used to support both quantitative trend analysis and the qualitative identification of research gaps and future research opportunities in composite materials research. Results: Supervised learning methods, in particular artificial neural networks, support vector machines, random forests, and decision trees, were commonly used and exhibited durable potential accuracy in predicting properties of composite materials. Unsupervised methods such as principal component analysis (PCA) and clustering were comparatively underused. Generative AI, including generative adversarial networks (GANs) and variational autoencoders (VAEs), and physics-informed models emerged as growing approaches for synthetic data generation and improved interpretability, respectively. Limitations: The reviewed studies were frequently limited by small or heterogeneous datasets, weak generalizability testing beyond training conditions, high computational requirements and limited model interpretability (“black box” behavior); a risk-of-bias assessment across included studies was not formally conducted. Conclusions: AI is shifting composite materials research from trial-and-error toward data-driven, predictive design. Realizing its full potential will require open, well-annotated datasets, physics-aware and explainable models, and closed-loop, active-learning workflows linking prediction to experimental validation.