NeuroSCA: Evolving Activation Functions for Side-Channel Analysis

The choice of activation functions can significantly impact the performance of neural networks. Due to an ever-increasing number of new activation functions being proposed in the literature, selecting the appropriate activation function becomes even more difficult. Consequently, many researchers approach this problem from a different angle, in which instead of selecting an existing activation function, an appropriate activation function is evolved for the problem at hand. In this paper, we demonstrate that evolutionary algorithms can evolve new activation functions for side-channel analysis (SCA), outperforming ReLU and other activation functions commonly applied to that problem. More specifically, we use Genetic Programming to define and explore candidate activation functions (neuroevolution) in the form of mathematical expressions that are gradually improved. Experiments with the ASCAD database show that this approach is highly effective compared to results obtained with standard activation functions and that it can match the state-of-the-art results from the literature. More precisely, the obtained results for the ASCAD fixed key dataset demonstrate that the evolved activation functions can improve the current state-of-the-art by achieving a guessing entropy of 287 for the Hamming weight model and 115 for the Identity leakage model, compared to 447 and 120 obtained in the literature.Cyber Securit

Additive manufacturing of functionally graded inconel 718: Effect of heat treatment and building orientation on microstructure and fatigue behaviour

This paper addresses the effect of the post-process heat treatments on the microstructure and fatigue crack growth behaviour of the functionally graded (FG) laser powder bed fusion (L-PBF) Inconel 718 (IN718) superalloy. Sets of samples were additively manufactured (AM) altering the process parameters, namely the laser power, the laser scanning speed, layer thickness, hatch distance, and beam distribution function, resulting in distinctly different microstructures. Two categories of samples underwent heat treatment (HT) and hot isostatic pressing followed by HT (HIP+HT), while one category was kept in the as-processed (AP) condition to reveal the effects of the post-treatments. Additionally, to study the effect of microstructural anisotropy, samples were printed in horizontal (H) and vertical (V) building directions. To better understand the behaviour of the FG materials, non-graded (NG) L-PBF samples and wrought material were investigated as references. Significant variations in terms of porosity, grain size and elongation, crystallographic texture, and content of the strengthening precipitates or detrimental phases were found in different AM groups. The fatigue behaviour of the NG and FG materials was also studied by conducting three-point bending tests. Findings in terms of the role of different microstructures on the fatigue-crack initiation and fatigue crack growth rate are presented and discussed for all samples. The study demonstrated that heat treatments can enhance the damage tolerance of L-PBF IN718 to the level of wrought material. Interestingly, the effect of the roughness induced crack closure was found to be a function of build orientation, especially in the low stress ratio regime.Team Vera Popovic

Effect of microstructure induced anisotropy on fatigue behaviour of functionally graded Inconel 718 fabricated by additive manufacturing

In this paper, the effect of microstructural anisotropy on the fatigue crack growth behaviour of the functionally graded Inconel 718 fabricated through laser powder bed fusion (L-PBF) is investigated. Different manufacturing parameters, including low and high laser powers, were used to produce a variety of non-graded (NG) and functionally graded (G) specimens in two build directions, vertical and horizontal. In addition, a group of heat treated wrought samples was tested as a reference. It was observed that the different manufacturing parameters result in various grain size, crystallographic textures, precipitates and Laves phases, porosity, and un-melted particles. Three-point bending fatigue tests were conducted to measure the threshold stress intensity factor (ΔKth) and fatigue crack growth rate (FCGR),da/dN. Only the lower laser power L-BPF Inconel material was found to have comparable to the wrought heat treated material fatigue crack growth behaviour. Furthermore, a new approach of automatically controlling ΔK as a function of the crack length was employed for graded specimens to investigate the crack growth rate as a function of local microstructure. The FCGR value of the vertical L-PBF samples, in which the crack direction was perpendicular to the build direction, remained constant. In contrast, the da/dN value of the horizontal samples with the crack direction parallel to the build direction increased constantly with the increase of the crack length. This behaviour is in good agreement with the hardness profile of the graded materials. Melt pool boundaries, graded interface boundaries, and grain orientations close to 〈001〉 were found to deflect the crack path. Additionally, it was found that L-PBF material is more affected (at a low stress ratio of R = 0.1) by the roughness-induced crack closure than the wrought counterparts. This study has successfully demonstrated the feasibility of using an additive manufacturing process to fabricate functionally graded materials featuring tailorable fatigue response of the local microstructures.Team Vera Popovic