Operator Learning for Consolidation: An Architectural Comparison for DeepONet Variants

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Authors: Choi, Yongjin, Liu, Chenying, Macedo, Jorge
Format: Preprint
Published: 2025
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author Choi, Yongjin
Liu, Chenying
Macedo, Jorge
author_facet Choi, Yongjin
Liu, Chenying
Macedo, Jorge
contents Deep Operator Networks (DeepONets) have emerged as a powerful surrogate modeling framework for learning solution operators in PDE-governed systems. While their use is expanding across engineering disciplines, applications in geotechnical engineering remain limited. This study systematically evaluates several DeepONet architectures for the consolidation problem. We initially consider three architectures: a standard DeepONet with the coefficient of consolidation embedded in the branch net (Models 1 and 2), and a physics-inspired architecture with the coefficient embedded in the trunk net (Model 3). Results show that Model 3 outperforms the standard configurations (Models 1 and 2) but still has limitations when the target solution (excess pore pressures) exhibits significant variation. To overcome this limitation, we propose a Trunknet Fourier feature-enhanced DeepONet (Model 4) that addresses the identified limitations by capturing rapidly varying functions. We further extend Model 4 to 3D scenarios. Although the computational speedup can be modest in the 1D case (1.5-100x compared with traditional solvers), the speedup becomes more pronounced in 3D, reaching approximately 1,000x. Leveraging this efficiency, we offer a conceptual demonstration of DeepONet's potential to accelerate uncertainty quantification in a 3D consolidation problem. Overall, the study highlights the potential of DeepONets to enable efficient, generalizable surrogate modeling in geotechnical applications, advancing the integration of scientific machine learning in geotechnics, which is at an early stage.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2507_10368
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Operator Learning for Consolidation: An Architectural Comparison for DeepONet Variants
Choi, Yongjin
Liu, Chenying
Macedo, Jorge
Machine Learning
Geophysics
Deep Operator Networks (DeepONets) have emerged as a powerful surrogate modeling framework for learning solution operators in PDE-governed systems. While their use is expanding across engineering disciplines, applications in geotechnical engineering remain limited. This study systematically evaluates several DeepONet architectures for the consolidation problem. We initially consider three architectures: a standard DeepONet with the coefficient of consolidation embedded in the branch net (Models 1 and 2), and a physics-inspired architecture with the coefficient embedded in the trunk net (Model 3). Results show that Model 3 outperforms the standard configurations (Models 1 and 2) but still has limitations when the target solution (excess pore pressures) exhibits significant variation. To overcome this limitation, we propose a Trunknet Fourier feature-enhanced DeepONet (Model 4) that addresses the identified limitations by capturing rapidly varying functions. We further extend Model 4 to 3D scenarios. Although the computational speedup can be modest in the 1D case (1.5-100x compared with traditional solvers), the speedup becomes more pronounced in 3D, reaching approximately 1,000x. Leveraging this efficiency, we offer a conceptual demonstration of DeepONet's potential to accelerate uncertainty quantification in a 3D consolidation problem. Overall, the study highlights the potential of DeepONets to enable efficient, generalizable surrogate modeling in geotechnical applications, advancing the integration of scientific machine learning in geotechnics, which is at an early stage.
title Operator Learning for Consolidation: An Architectural Comparison for DeepONet Variants
topic Machine Learning
Geophysics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2507.10368