An Efficient and Accurate Surrogate Modeling of Flapping Dynamics in Inverted Elastic Foils using Hypergraph Neural Networks

TL;DR

This paper introduces a hypergraph neural network surrogate model that accurately predicts the complex, nonlinear fluid-structure interactions of elastic foils undergoing flapping, significantly reducing computational costs for design optimization.

Contribution

The study develops a novel hypergraph GNN architecture that captures vortex-structure coupling in flexible foils, extending previous methods to handle nonlinear, self-oscillating systems.

Findings

Achieves less than 1.5% error in tip displacement and force predictions.

Accurately reproduces vortex-shedding frequencies and energy transfer metrics.

Demonstrates stability and efficiency for long-term unsteady flow simulations.

Abstract

Cantilevered elastic foils can undergo self-induced, large-amplitude flapping when subject to fluid flow, a widely observed phenomenon of fluid-structure interaction, from fluttering leaves or the movement of fish fins. When harnessed in steady currents, these oscillations enable the extraction of kinetic energy from the flow. However, accurately predicting these dynamics requires high-fidelity simulations that are prohibitively expensive to perform across the broad configuration space needed for design optimization. To address this, we develop a novel graph neural network (GNN) surrogate for the inverted foil problem, modeled as an elastically mounted rigid foil undergoing trailing-edge pitching in uniform flow. The coupled fluid-structure dynamics are solved using a Petrov-Galerkin finite element method with an arbitrary Lagrangian-Eulerian formulation, providing high-fidelity data for training and validation. The surrogate uses a rotation-equivariant, quasi-monolithic GNN architecture: structural mesh motion is compressed via proper orthogonal decomposition and advanced through a multilayer perceptron. At the same time, the GNN evolves the flow field consistent with system states. Specifically, this study extends the hypergraph framework to flexible, self-oscillating foils, capturing the nonlinear coupling between vortex dynamics and structural motion. The GNN surrogate achieves less than 1.5% error in predicting tip displacement and force coefficients over thousands of time steps, while accurately reproducing dominant vortex-shedding frequencies. The model captures energy transfer metrics within 3% of full-order simulations, demonstrating both accuracy and long-term stability. These results show a new, efficient surrogate for long-horizon prediction of unsteady flow-structure dynamics in energy-harvesting systems.