Graph attention network-based fluid simulation model

Abstract

Traditional computational fluid dynamics (CFD) techniques deduce the dynamic variations in flow fields by using finite elements or finite differences to solve partial differential equations. CFD usually involves several tens of thousands of grid nodes, which entail long computation times and significant computational resources. Fluid data are usually irregular data, and there will be turbulence in the flow field where the physical quantities between adjacent grid nodes are extremely nonequilibrium. We use a graph attention neural network to build a fluid simulation model (GAFM). GAFM assigns weights to adjacent node-pairs through a graph attention mechanism. In this way, it is not only possible to directly calculate the fluid data but also to adjust for nonequilibrium in vortices, especially turbulent flows. The GAFM deductively predicts the dynamic variations in flow fields by using spatiotemporally continuous sample data. A validation of the proposed GAFM against the two-dimensional (2D) flow around a cylinder confirms its high prediction accuracy. In addition, the GAFM achieves faster computation speeds than traditional CFD solvers by two to three orders of magnitude. The GAFM provides a new idea for the rapid optimization and design of fluid mechanics models and the real-time control of intelligent fluid mechanisms.