Domain knowledge-guided interpretive machine learning: formula discovery for the oxidation behavior of ferritic-martensitic steels in supercritical water

A general formula with high generalization and accurate prediction power is highly desirable for science, technology and engineering. In addition to human beings, artificial intelligence algorithms show great promise for the discovery of formulas. In this study, we propose a domain knowledge-guided interpretive machine learning strategy and demonstrate it by studying the oxidation behavior of ferritic-martensitic steels in supercritical water. The oxidation Cr equivalent is, for the first time, proposed in the present work to represent all contributions of alloying elements to oxidation, derived by our domain knowledge and interpretive machine learning algorithms. An open-source tree classifier for linear regression algorithm is also, for the first time, developed to materialize the formula with collected data. This algorithm effectively captures the linear correlation between compositions, testing environments and oxidation behaviors from the data. The sure independence screening and sparsifying operator algorithm finally assembles the information derived from the tree classifier for linear regression algorithm, resulting in a general formula. The general formula with the determined parameters has the power to predict, quantitatively and accurately, the oxidation behavior of ferritic-martensitic steels with multiple alloying elements exposed to various supercritical water environments, thereby providing guidance for the design of anti-oxidation steels and hence promoting the development of power plants with improved safety. The present work demonstrates the power of domain knowledge-guided interpretive machine learning with respect to the data-driven discovery of physics-informed formulas and the acceleration of materials informatics development