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Reduced-Order Modeling of Energetic Materials Using Physics-Aware Recurrent Convolutional Neural Networks in a Latent Space (LatentPARC)
Journal article   Open access   Peer reviewed

Reduced-Order Modeling of Energetic Materials Using Physics-Aware Recurrent Convolutional Neural Networks in a Latent Space (LatentPARC)

Zoë J Gray, Joseph B. Choi, Youngsoo Choi, H. Keo Springer, H. S. Udaykumar and Stephen S. Baek
Propellants, explosives, pyrotechnics
01/31/2026
DOI: 10.1002/prep.70141
url
https://doi.org/10.1002/prep.70141View
Published (Version of record) Open Access

Abstract

Physics-aware deep learning (PADL) has gained popularity for use in spatiotemporal dynamics simulations, such as those in computational modeling of energetic materials (EM). We show that the challenge PADL methods face while learning complex field evolution problems can be simplified and accelerated by decoupling it into two tasks: learning complex geometric features in evolving fields and modeling dynamics over these features in a lower-dimensional feature space. We build upon our previous work on physics-aware recurrent convolutional neural networks (PARC). PARC embeds knowledge of underlying physics into its neural network architecture for more robust and accurate prediction of evolving physical fields. PARC was shown to effectively learn complex nonlinear features such as the formation of hotspots and coupled shock fronts in various initiation scenarios of EMs, as a function of microstructures, serving effectively as a microstructure-aware burn model. Here, we further accelerate PARC and reduce its computational cost by projecting the original dynamics onto a lower-dimensional invariant manifold, or "latent space." The projected latent representation encodes the complex geometry of evolving fields (e.g., temperature and pressure) in a set of data-driven features. The reduced dimension of this latent space allows us to learn the dynamics during the initiation of EM with a lighter and more efficient model. We observe a significant decrease in training and inference time while maintaining results comparable to PARC at inference. This work takes steps towards enabling rapid prediction of EM thermomechanics at larger scales and characterization of EM structure-property-performance linkages at a full application scale.
 Engineering Physical Sciences Technology Chemistry Chemistry, Applied Engineering, Chemical Science & Technology

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