Physics-informed neural networks for solving moving interface flow problems using the level set approach

Abstract: This paper advances the use of physics-informed neural networks (PINNs) architectures to address moving interface problems via the level set method. Originally developed for other PDE-based problems, we particularly leverage PirateNet's features, including causal training, sequence-to-sequence learning, random weight factorization, and Fourier feature embeddings, and tailor them to achieve superior performance in modeling interface dynamics. Numerical experiments validate this framework on benchmark problems such as Zalesak's disk rotation and time-reversed vortex flow. We demonstrate that PINNs can efficiently solve level set problems exhibiting significant interface deformation without the need for upwind numerical stabilization, as generally required by classic discretization methods. Additionally, geometric reinitialization or mass conservation schemes have been revealed as unnecessary for accurate and efficient solutions. However, incorporating an Eikonal regularization term in the loss function with an appropriate weight can further enhance results in specific scenarios. Our results indicate that PINNs with the PirateNet architecture surpass conventional PINNs in accuracy, achieving state-of-the-art error rates of $L^2=0.14\%$ for Zalesak's disk and $L^2=0.85 \%$ for the time-reversed vortex flow problem, as compared to reference solutions.