A Physics-Informed Hybrid Forward-Inverse Machine Learning Framework for High-Dimensional Sparse Recipe Reconstruction
Organizations: Department of Industrial and Production Engineering, Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET), Dhaka 1000, Bangladesh
Abstract
High-dimensional sparse recipe formulation in process industries involves nonlinear association of various covariates, bounded by sparsity constraints and multi-criteria tolerances. Traditional physics-based classical methods (such as Kubelka-Munk) fail to generate sparse candidate recipes properly due to their simplified assumptions and industrial process variations. This study proposes a hybrid physics-informed uncertainty-aware framework that is structured into three modules: (a) Module A, a multi-target forward quality model; (b) Module B, a sparse inverse reconstructor; and (c) Module C, a feasibility-constrained ranking layer. Then it has been validated in an industrial textile dyeing context with recipe-grouped cross-validation under multi-illuminant quality assessment comprising process and production information, target reflectance, K/S values, and spectral descriptors. Histogram Gradient Boosting (HGB) with spectral-only features (, K/S) and Gradient Boosting Regressor (GBDT) with recipe-process features outperforms other configurations with out-of-Fold MAE of 0.1655 and 0.1523 in the forward quality model. For inverse reconstruction, a component-wise median blend achieved a recipe-vector MAE of 0.0295. Exploratory conditional treatment effect (CATE) suggests an observational association that alkali adjustment reduces error for red and pale shades (CATE = -0.196). This framework provides a human-in-the-loop decision-support tool that minimizes costly laboratory trials across industrial formulation domains.
Figures & tables
| Symbol | Definition |
|---|---|
| Indices for observations, dye components, and spectral wavelengths, respectively. | |
| Numbers of observations, active dye variables, and cross-validation folds; and . | |
| Observed dye-recipe concentration vector for observation . | |
| Concentration of dye in recipe , expressed as percentage on weight of fiber. | |
| Total dye concentration, . | |
| Spectral reflectance of observation at wavelength . |
| Target | Model | MAE | 95% cluster-bootstrap CI | RMSE | Median AE | Bias | Spearman |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| HGB- (Sp.) | 0.1655 | 0.1475–0.1853 | 0.2094 | 0.1558 | 0.0069 | 0.2368 | |
| GB- (RP) | 0.1523 | 0.1316–0.1759 | 0.1977 | 0.1279 | 0.0040 | 0.3988 | |
| HGB- (Sp.) | 0.1398 | 0.1230–0.1596 | 0.1822 | 0.1228 | 0.0087 | 0.2507 | |
| Absolute metamerism gap | QRF-LINEAR-KM (LSP) | 0.1046 | 0.0909–0.1191 | 0.1364 | 0.0865 | -0.0083 | 0.4746 |
| Inverse model | Candidate form | Forward outcome | Forward model |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median blend | Raw and sparse | GB- (TSF) | |
| GB- (TSF) | |||
| RF- (TSF) | |||
| RF- (TSF) |
| Target | High exposure | Subgroup | Mean CATE ( ) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Soda ash concentration | Red dye family | (62) | |
| Soda ash concentration | High reflectance | (64) | |
| Blue-dye ratio | Low reflectance | (71) | |
| Red-dye ratio | Mid reflectance | (70) | |
| Red-dye ratio | Blue dye family | (61) | |
| Soda ash concentration | Red dye family | (62) |
Appendix figures & tables9 assets
Supplementary material from the paper’s appendix.
Appendix
| Model family | Hyperparameter search space | Configurations per target–representation |
|---|---|---|
| Random forest | n_estimators ; max_depth ; min_samples_leaf ; min_samples_split ; max_features ; bootstrap . | 200 randomized |
| Extra Trees | n_estimators ; max_depth ; min_samples_leaf ; min_samples_split ; max_features ; bootstrap . | 200 randomized |
| Gradient boosting | n_estimators ; learning_rate ; max_depth ; min_samples_leaf ; subsample ; max_features . | 200 randomized |
| Histogram gradient boosting | max_iter ; learning_rate ; max_leaf_nodes ; min_samples_leaf ; l2_regularization ; early_stopping . | 200 randomized |
| Ridge regression | . | 10 exhaustive |
| ElasticNet | ; l1_ratio ; max_iter . | 189 exhaustive |
| Model family | Hyperparameter search space or sampling rule | Configurations per representation |
|---|---|---|
| K-nearest neighbours | n_neighbors ; weights ; Minkowski parameter . | 28 exhaustive |
| Ridge regression | The fixed values were included. The remaining unique values were sampled as , where . | 200 sampled |
| ElasticNet | The fixed pairs and were included. Remaining values used , where , and . The maximum number of iterations was fixed at 20,000. | 200 sampled |
| Random forest | n_estimators ; max_depth ; min_samples_leaf ; max_features . Bootstrap sampling was fixed to True . | 200 sampled |
| Extra Trees | n_estimators ; max_depth ; min_samples_leaf ; max_features . Bootstrap sampling was fixed to False . | 200 sampled |
| Target | Rank | Model | Input representation | MAE | RMSE | Median AE | Bias | Spearman |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Histogram gradient boosting | Spectral-only | 0.1655 | 0.2094 | 0.1558 | 0.0069 | 0.2368 | |
| 2 | Random forest | Spectral-only | 0.1657 | 0.2130 | 0.1359 | 0.0039 | 0.2422 | |
| 3 | Histogram gradient boosting | Recipe–process | 0.1669 | 0.2121 | 0.1578 | 0.0033 | 0.2455 | |
| 4 | Gradient boosting | Spectral-only | 0.1670 | 0.2107 | 0.1448 | 0.0067 | 0.2661 | |
| 5 | Gradient boosting | Tree-safe full | 0.1670 | 0.2124 | 0.1436 | 0.0073 | 0.2224 | |
| 1 | Gradient boosting | Recipe–process | 0.1523 | 0.1977 | 0.1279 | 0.0040 | 0.3988 |
| Target | Method | Input representation | Median- prediction MAE | 95% CI for MAE | Coverage | 95% CI for coverage | Mean width | Pinball loss | Width–error Spearman | Coverage compatible | Selected |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fold-wise empirical quantiles | Response only | 0.1733 | 0.1546–0.1933 | 0.7877 | 0.7277–0.8436 | 0.5520 | 0.0517 | 0.0512 | Yes | Yes | |
| Quantile random forest | Linear-safe plus K/S | 0.1762 | 0.1585–0.1960 | 0.4387 | 0.3689–0.5139 | 0.2836 | 0.0611 | No | No | ||
| Quantile random forest | Tree-safe plus K/S | 0.1749 | 0.1559–0.1962 | 0.4670 | 0.3981–0.5415 | 0.3043 | 0.0599 | No | No | ||
| Fold-wise empirical quantiles | Response only | 0.1676 | 0.1451–0.1925 | 0.7925 | 0.7297–0.8512 | 0.4971 | 0.0522 | Yes | Yes | ||
| Quantile random forest | Linear-safe plus K/S | 0.1599 | 0.1361–0.1859 | 0.5283 | 0.4465–0.6073 | 0.2580 | 0.0571 | 0.0386 | No | No | |
| Quantile random forest | Tree-safe plus K/S | 0.1572 | 0.1366–0.1797 | 0.4151 | 0.3333–0.4951 | 0.2124 | 0.0589 | 0.1300 | No | No |
| Dye | Observed active | Predicted active | MAE | RMSE | Bias | Precision | Recall | F1 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dye A | 65 | 69 | 0.12570 | 0.29253 | 0.01670 | 0.8406 | 0.8923 | 0.8657 |
| Dye B | 70 | 87 | 0.24896 | 0.63326 | 0.10403 | 0.6782 | 0.8429 | 0.7516 |
| Dye C | 42 | 39 | 0.02160 | 0.08548 | -0.00903 | 1.0000 | 0.9286 | 0.9630 |
| Dye D | 0 | 0 | 0.00000 | 0.00000 | 0.00000 | 0.0000 | 0.0000 | 0.0000 |
| Dye E | 54 | 49 | 0.10598 | 0.28474 | -0.01246 | 0.7551 | 0.6852 | 0.7184 |
| Dye F | 31 | 30 | 0.11577 | 0.43177 | -0.00616 | 0.6667 | 0.6452 | 0.6557 |
| Author (Year) | Process | Variables | Dataset | Dataset Size | Country |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| (Zhu et al., 2025) | Full-color-gamut rotor spinning & Neural Network color prediction | Blending ratios (8 primary fibers), spectral reflectance, CIELAB | Blended yarn fabrics (experimental samples) | 273 samples (255 training, 18 validation) | China |
| (Cui et al., 2025) | Bidirectional color prediction using BPNN models & Grid-based color mixing | Inputs/Outputs: Spectral reflectance, Blend ratios (4 primary colors), CIELAB values | Experimental color-spun yarn samples | 66 distinct yarn samples | China |
| (Xie et al., 2024) | GBRT (Gradient-Boosting Regression Tree) with Log-transformation | Dye concentrations (3 disperse dyes), full reflectance spectra, CIELAB/RGB | Industrial dyeing records (Polyester fabrics) | 356 industrial dyeing data | China |
| (Souissi et al., 2024) | Genetic Algorithm (GA) optimization (Roulette wheel selection) | Disperse dye concentrations (3 dyes), CMC color difference | Dyed PET/PTT bicomponent filaments | 15 reference colors | Tunisia |
| (Zhou et al., 2024) | NSGA-II (Genetic Algorithm) + ESM-EWM-TOPSIS decision model | Dye concentrations, CMC , metamerism index, cost | Laboratory dyeing dataset (Cotton/Reactive dyes) | 40 target colors | China |
| (Sun et al., 2023) | Neuronal Network (BPNN) + Gridded color-mixing model | Inputs/Outputs: Fiber mixing ratios (4 colors) and Spectral reflectance | Gridded color-mixed yarn samples | 41 samples (31 Training, 10 Validation) | China |