Machine learning algorithms for three-dimensional mean-curvature computation in the level-set method

We propose a data-driven mean-curvature solver for the level-set method. This work is the natural extension to $\mathbb{R}^3$ of our two-dimensional strategy in [arXiv:2201.12342][1] and the hybrid inference system of [DOI: 10.1016/j.jcp.2022.111291][2]. However, in contrast to [1,2], which built resolution-dependent neural-network dictionaries, here we develop a pair of models in $\mathbb{R}^3$, regardless of the mesh size. Our feedforward networks ingest transformed level-set, gradient, and curvature data to fix numerical mean-curvature approximations selectively for interface nodes. To reduce the problem's complexity, we have used the Gaussian curvature to classify stencils and fit our models separately to non-saddle and saddle patterns. Non-saddle stencils are easier to handle because they exhibit a curvature error distribution characterized by monotonicity and symmetry. While the latter has allowed us to train only on half the mean-curvature spectrum, the former has helped us blend the data-driven and the baseline estimations seamlessly near flat regions. On the other hand, the saddle-pattern error structure is less clear; thus, we have exploited no latent information beyond what is known. In this regard, we have trained our models on not only spherical but also sinusoidal and hyperbolic paraboloidal patches. Our approach to building their data sets is systematic but gleans samples randomly while ensuring well-balancedness. We have also resorted to standardization and dimensionality reduction as a preprocessing step and integrated regularization to minimize outliers. In addition, we leverage curvature rotation/reflection invariance to improve precision at inference time. Several experiments confirm that our proposed system can yield more accurate mean-curvature estimations than modern particle-based interface reconstruction and level-set schemes around under-resolved regions.

Error-Correcting Neural Networks for Two-Dimensional Curvature Computation in the Level-Set Method

We present an error-neural-modeling-based strategy for approximating two-dimensional curvature in the level-set method. Our main contribution is a redesigned hybrid solver (Larios-C\'{a}rdenas and Gibou (2021)[1]) that relies on numerical schemes to enable machine-learning operations on demand. In particular, our routine features double predicting to harness curvature symmetry invariance in favor of precision and stability. As in [1], the core of this solver is a multilayer perceptron trained on circular- and sinusoidal-interface samples. Its role is to quantify the error in numerical curvature approximations and emit corrected estimates for select grid vertices along the free boundary. These corrections arise in response to preprocessed context level-set, curvature, and gradient data. To promote neural capacity, we have adopted sample negative-curvature normalization, reorientation, and reflection-based augmentation. In the same manner, our system incorporates dimensionality reduction, well-balancedness, and regularization to minimize outlying effects. Our training approach is likewise scalable across mesh sizes. For this purpose, we have introduced dimensionless parametrization and probabilistic subsampling during data production. Together, all these elements have improved the accuracy and efficiency of curvature calculations around under-resolved regions. In most experiments, our strategy has outperformed the numerical baseline at twice the number of redistancing steps while requiring only a fraction of the cost.

Error-Correcting Neural Networks for Semi-Lagrangian Advection in the Level-Set Method

We present a machine learning framework that blends image super-resolution technologies with scalar transport in the level-set method. Here, we investigate whether we can compute on-the-fly data-driven corrections to minimize numerical viscosity in the coarse-mesh evolution of an interface. The proposed system's starting point is the semi-Lagrangian formulation. And, to reduce numerical dissipation, we introduce an error-quantifying multilayer perceptron. The role of this neural network is to improve the numerically estimated surface trajectory. To do so, it processes localized level-set, velocity, and positional data in a single time frame for select vertices near the moving front. Our main contribution is thus a novel machine-learning-augmented transport algorithm that operates alongside selective redistancing and alternates with conventional advection to keep the adjusted interface trajectory smooth. Consequently, our procedure is more efficient than full-scan convolutional-based applications because it concentrates computational effort only around the free boundary. Also, we show through various tests that our strategy is effective at counteracting both numerical diffusion and mass loss. In passive advection problems, for example, our method can achieve the same precision as the baseline scheme at twice the resolution but at a fraction of the cost. Similarly, our hybrid technique can produce feasible solidification fronts for crystallization processes. On the other hand, highly deforming or lengthy simulations can precipitate bias artifacts and inference deterioration. Likewise, stringent design velocity constraints can impose certain limitations, especially for problems involving rapid interface changes. In the latter cases, we have identified several opportunity avenues to enhance robustness without forgoing our approach's basic concept.

Level-Set Curvature Neural Networks: A Hybrid Approach

We present a hybrid strategy based on deep learning to compute mean curvature in the level-set method. The proposed inference system combines a dictionary of improved regression models with standard numerical schemes to estimate curvature more accurately. The core of our framework is a switching mechanism that relies on well-established numerical techniques to gauge curvature. If the curvature magnitude is larger than a resolution-dependent threshold, it uses a neural network to yield a better approximation. Our networks are multi-layer perceptrons fitted to synthetic data sets composed of circular- and sinusoidal-interface samples at various configurations. To reduce data set size and training complexity, we leverage the problem's characteristic symmetry and build our models on just half of the curvature spectrum. These savings result in compact networks able to outperform any of the system's numerical or neural component alone. Experiments with static interfaces show that our hybrid approach is suitable and notoriously superior to conventional numerical methods in under-resolved and steep, concave regions. Compared to prior research, we have observed outstanding gains in precision after including training data pairs from more than a single interface type and other means of input preprocessing. In particular, our findings confirm that machine learning is a promising venue for devising viable solutions to the level-set method's numerical shortcomings.