Data-Driven Surrogate Modeling of DSMC Solutions Using Deep Neural Networks

Abstract: This study presents a deep neural network (DNN) framework that accelerates Direct Simulation Monte Carlo (DSMC) computations for rarefied-gas flows, while maintaining high physical fidelity. First, a fully connected deep neural network is trained on high-quality DSMC data for seven temperatures (200-650 K) to reproduce the Maxwell-Boltzmann speed distribution of argon. Injecting the physical boundary point into the training set enforces the correct low-speed limit. It reduces the mean-squared error to below 10^-5, thereby decreasing inference time from tens of minutes per DSMC run to milliseconds. For one-dimensional shock waves, a multi-output network equipped with learnable Fourier features learns the complete profiles of density, velocity, and temperature. Trained only on Mach numbers 1.4-1.9, it predicts a Mach 2 and 2.5 case with near-perfect agreement to DSMC, demonstrating robust out-of-training generalization. In a lid-driven cavity, the large parametric spread in Knudsen number is handled by a "family-of-experts" strategy: separate specialist models are trained at discrete Knudsen (Kn) values, and log-space interpolation fuses their outputs. This hybrid surrogate recovers the full 2-D velocity and temperature fields at unseen Kn with less than 2% spatial error. Key innovations include (i) explicit injection of physical constraints during data preprocessing, (ii) learnable Fourier feature mapping to capture steep shock gradients, and (iii) a modular expert-interpolation scheme to cover wide Knudsen ranges. Together, they establish a general recipe for trustworthy, rapid surrogate models that can be extended to non-equilibrium phenomena, gas mixtures, and design optimization workflows