Hammering at the entropy: A GENERIC-guided approach to learning polymeric rheological constitutive equations using PINNs

TL;DR

This paper introduces a flexible PINN-based framework for deriving rheological constitutive equations of polymers, guided by GENERIC principles, and demonstrates its effectiveness in predicting complex flow behaviors.

Contribution

The paper presents a novel GENERIC-guided PINN approach for learning polymer rheology models, capable of handling complex and diverse flow conditions.

Findings

PINN models accurately predict flow behavior in various conditions

PINN-complex outperforms PINN-rheometric in complex flows

Method is geometry agnostic and adaptable to different flow topologies

Abstract

We present a versatile framework that employs Physics-Informed Neural Networks (PINNs) to discover the entropic contribution that leads to the constitutive equation for the extra-stress in rheological models of polymer solutions. In this framework the training of the Neural Network is guided by an evolution equation for the conformation tensor which is GENERIC-compliant. We compare two training methodologies for the data-driven PINN constitutive models: one trained on data from the analytical solution of the Oldroyd-B model under steady-state rheometric flows (PINN-rheometric), and another trained on in-silico data generated from complex flow CFD simulations around a cylinder that use the Oldroyd-B model (PINN-complex). The capacity of the PINN models to provide good predictions are evaluated by comparison with CFD simulations using the underlying Oldroyd-B model as a reference. Both models are capable of predicting flow behavior in transient and complex conditions; however, the PINN-complex model, trained on a broader range of mixed flow data, outperforms the PINN-rheometric model in complex flow scenarios. The geometry agnostic character of our methodology allows us to apply the learned PINN models to flows with different topologies than the ones used for training.