A Flow-rate-conserving CNN-based Domain Decomposition Method for Blood Flow Simulations

Abstract: This work aims to predict blood flow with non-Newtonian viscosity in stenosed arteries using convolutional neural network (CNN) surrogate models. An alternating Schwarz domain decomposition method is proposed which uses CNN-based subdomain solvers. A universal subdomain solver (USDS) is trained on a single, fixed geometry and then applied for each subdomain solve in the Schwarz method. Results for two-dimensional stenotic arteries of varying shape and length for different inflow conditions are presented and statistically evaluated. One key finding, when using a limited amount of training data, is the need to implement a USDS which preserves some of the physics, as, in our case, flow rate conservation. A physics-aware approach outperforms purely data-driven USDS, delivering improved subdomain solutions and preventing overshooting or undershooting of the global solution during the Schwarz iterations, thereby leading to more reliable convergence.