Neural Diffeomorphic-Neural Operator for Residual Stress-Induced Deformation Prediction

Abstract

Accurate prediction of machining deformation in structural components is essential for ensuring dimensional precision and reliability. Such deformation often originates from residual stress fields, whose distribution and influence vary significantly with geometric complexity. Conventional numerical methods for modeling the coupling between residual stresses and deformation are computationally expensive, particularly when diverse geometries are considered. Neural operators have recently emerged as a powerful paradigm for efficiently solving partial differential equations, offering notable advantages in accelerating residual stress-deformation analysis. However, their direct application across changing geometric domains faces theoretical and practical limitations. To address this challenge, a novel framework based on diffeomorphic embedding neural operators named neural diffeomorphic-neural operator (NDNO) is introduced. Complex three-dimensional geometries are explicitly mapped to a common reference domain through a diffeomorphic neural network constrained by smoothness and invertibility. The neural operator is then trained on this reference domain, enabling efficient learning of deformation fields induced by residual stresses. Once trained, both the diffeomorphic neural network and the neural operator demonstrate efficient prediction capabilities, allowing rapid adaptation to varying geometries. The proposed method thus provides an effective and computationally efficient solution for deformation prediction in structural components subject to varying geometries. The proposed method is validated to predict both main-direction and multi-direction deformation fields, achieving high accuracy and efficiency across parts with diverse geometries including component types, dimensions and features.