An approach to encode divergence-free stress fields in neural approximations based on stress potentials

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Authors: Khorrami, Mohammad S., Goyal, Pawan, Motahari, Soroush, Oexle, David, Mianroodi, Jaber R., Svendsen, Bob, Benner, Peter, Raabe, Dierk
Format: Preprint
Published: 2026
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author Khorrami, Mohammad S.
Goyal, Pawan
Motahari, Soroush
Oexle, David
Mianroodi, Jaber R.
Svendsen, Bob
Benner, Peter
Raabe, Dierk
author_facet Khorrami, Mohammad S.
Goyal, Pawan
Motahari, Soroush
Oexle, David
Mianroodi, Jaber R.
Svendsen, Bob
Benner, Peter
Raabe, Dierk
contents The purpose of the current work is the development of an approach to account for quasi-static mechanical equilibrium in empirical (i.e., data-based) models for the stress field employing neural approximations (NAs), which include neural networks (NNs) and neural operators (NOs), in particular Fourier NOs (FNOs). Rather than including such constraints from physics in the loss function as done in the (now standard) physics-informed approach, the current approach incorporates or "encodes" such constraints directly into the architecture of the NA. As a result, both NA training and output are physically constrained in the physics-encoded approach, in contrast to the physics-informed approach, in which only training is physically constrained. For the current constraint of divergence-free stress, a novel encoding approach based on a stress potential is proposed. As a "proof-of-concept" example application of the current approach, a physics-encoded FNO (PeFNO) is developed for a heterogeneous polycrystalline material consisting of isotropic elastic grains and subject to uniaxial extension. Stress field data for this purpose are obtained from the numerical solution of corresponding boundary-value problems for quasi-static mechanical equilibrium. For comparison with the PeFNO, this data is also employed to develop an analogous physics-guided FNO (PgFNO) and physics-informed FNO (PiFNO). As expected theoretically, and confirmed by this computational comparison, for comparable accuracy of the stress field itself as compared to the data, the stress field output by the trained and tested PeFNO is significantly more accurate in satisfying mechanical equilibrium than the output of either the PgFNO or the PiFNO.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2605_00509
institution arXiv
publishDate 2026
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle An approach to encode divergence-free stress fields in neural approximations based on stress potentials
Khorrami, Mohammad S.
Goyal, Pawan
Motahari, Soroush
Oexle, David
Mianroodi, Jaber R.
Svendsen, Bob
Benner, Peter
Raabe, Dierk
Computational Engineering, Finance, and Science
Materials Science (cond-mat.mtrl-sci), Machine Learning (cs.LG), Analysis of PDEs (math.AP)
The purpose of the current work is the development of an approach to account for quasi-static mechanical equilibrium in empirical (i.e., data-based) models for the stress field employing neural approximations (NAs), which include neural networks (NNs) and neural operators (NOs), in particular Fourier NOs (FNOs). Rather than including such constraints from physics in the loss function as done in the (now standard) physics-informed approach, the current approach incorporates or "encodes" such constraints directly into the architecture of the NA. As a result, both NA training and output are physically constrained in the physics-encoded approach, in contrast to the physics-informed approach, in which only training is physically constrained. For the current constraint of divergence-free stress, a novel encoding approach based on a stress potential is proposed. As a "proof-of-concept" example application of the current approach, a physics-encoded FNO (PeFNO) is developed for a heterogeneous polycrystalline material consisting of isotropic elastic grains and subject to uniaxial extension. Stress field data for this purpose are obtained from the numerical solution of corresponding boundary-value problems for quasi-static mechanical equilibrium. For comparison with the PeFNO, this data is also employed to develop an analogous physics-guided FNO (PgFNO) and physics-informed FNO (PiFNO). As expected theoretically, and confirmed by this computational comparison, for comparable accuracy of the stress field itself as compared to the data, the stress field output by the trained and tested PeFNO is significantly more accurate in satisfying mechanical equilibrium than the output of either the PgFNO or the PiFNO.
title An approach to encode divergence-free stress fields in neural approximations based on stress potentials
topic Computational Engineering, Finance, and Science
Materials Science (cond-mat.mtrl-sci), Machine Learning (cs.LG), Analysis of PDEs (math.AP)
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2605.00509