arXiv subjects

Martin Frank

Publications and source records attributed to Martin Frank.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

Mechanical Modeling of Braided Neurovascular Flow Diverters using a Beam-to-Beam and Beam-to-Surface Contact Formulation

Braided neurovascular flow diverters are widely used for the endovascular treatment of intracranial aneurysms, where their mechanical response and final deployed configuration are governed by the interaction of many slender, interwoven wires. Accurate numerical modeling of these devices is essential for analyzing their structural behavior during deformation occurring in compression or deployment. This work presents a structural-mechanics-based modeling framework and finite element formulation for the numerical simulation of braided flow diverters. The individual wires are modeled using geometrically exact Simo--Reissner beam theory, allowing a consistent description of large rotations and curved reference configurations. Mechanical interactions between individual wires are described by a beam-to-beam contact formulation, while the interaction with surrounding tubular structures, such as microcatheters, is captured by a beam-to-surface contact formulation. A flexible parametric description of interwoven braided flow diverter geometries is introduced, enabling systematic control of geometric design parameters such as wire count, braiding angle, device length, and radial interweaving pattern. The proposed framework is assessed by means of three representative validation cases from the literature. A tensile test is considered to investigate the length--diameter relation and axial force response of the device, while a radial compression test is used to study the pressure--diameter behavior. Finally, a stepwise compression example is used to evaluate geometry-sensitive quantities, including local wire distance, pitch angle, porosity, and metal coverage ratio. Rooted in structural mechanics and contact mechanics, these examples provide a systematical validation setting for the proposed modeling framework and its application to the mechanical analysis of braided flow diverters.

cs.CE↗

arXiv2026

Contact-resolved deployment of the Contour Neurovascular System in patient-specific intracranial aneurysms

While intrasaccular flow disruptors are widely used to treat wide-neck intracranial aneurysms, state-of-the-art patient-specific computational models routinely neglect the deployment mechanics by prescribing a pre-seated geometry. This shortcut oversimplifies the true physics and misrepresents the Contour Neurovascular System (CNS), whose critical biomechanical features, such as neck coverage, wall apposition, and migration resistance, are highly path-dependent. To resolve this limitation, we present a contact-resolved finite-element framework that explicitly computes the structural mechanics of implant deployment within patient-specific vascular environments. The device is discretized as a dual-layer interwoven Nitinol braid using geometrically exact beams, while the vascular wall is represented as a deformable hyperelastic shell. Non-linear frictional contact formulations govern complex wire-wire and wire-wall interactions under a staged release protocol. Evaluating three anatomical phenotypes reveals that the final equilibrium morphology is highly sensitive to tangential slip resistance and vertical release depth. Frictionless assumptions permit excessive post-contact sliding, whereas near-stick conditions enhance anchoring but restrict local compliance. Crucially, conventional geometric fast placement fails to capture these critical contact interactions and wall-supported mechanical equilibrium. This deployment-resolved framework establishes a biomechanically grounded foundation for downstream hemodynamics, fluid-structure interaction, and mechanobiological thrombus-formation modeling.

physics.comp-ph↗

arXiv2025

Uncertain data assimilation for urban wind flow simulations with OpenLB-UQ

Accurate prediction of urban wind flow is essential for urban planning, pedestrian safety, and environmental management. Yet, it remains challenging due to uncertain boundary conditions and the high cost of conventional CFD simulations. This paper presents the use of the modular and efficient uncertainty quantification (UQ) framework OpenLB-UQ for urban wind flow simulations. We specifically use the lattice Boltzmann method (LBM) coupled with a stochastic collocation (SC) approach based on generalized polynomial chaos (gPC). The framework introduces a relative-error noise model for inflow wind speeds based on real measurements. The model is propagated through a non-intrusive SC LBM pipeline using sparse-grid quadrature. Key quantities of interest, including mean flow fields, standard deviations, and vertical profiles with confidence intervals, are efficiently computed without altering the underlying deterministic solver. We demonstrate this on a real urban scenario, highlighting how uncertainty localizes in complex flow regions such as wakes and shear layers. The results show that the SC LBM approach provides accurate, uncertainty-aware predictions with significant computational efficiency, making OpenLB-UQ a practical tool for real-time urban wind analysis.

physics.flu-dyn↗

arXiv2025

OpenLB-UQ: An Uncertainty Quantification Framework for Incompressible Fluid Flow Simulations

Uncertainty quantification (UQ) is crucial in computational fluid dynamics to assess the reliability and robustness of simulations, given the uncertainties in input parameters. OpenLB is an open-source lattice Boltzmann method library designed for efficient and extensible simulations of complex fluid dynamics on high-performance computers. In this work, we leverage the efficiency of OpenLB for large-scale flow sampling with a dedicated and integrated UQ module. To this end, we focus on non-intrusive stochastic collocation methods based on generalized polynomial chaos and Monte Carlo sampling. The OpenLB-UQ framework is extensively validated in convergence tests with respect to statistical metrics and sample efficiency using selected benchmark cases, including two-dimensional Taylor--Green vortex flows with up to four-dimensional uncertainty and a flow past a cylinder. Our results confirm the expected convergence rates and show promising scalability, demonstrating robust statistical accuracy as well as computational efficiency. OpenLB-UQ enhances the capability of the OpenLB library, offering researchers a scalable framework for UQ in incompressible fluid flow simulations and beyond.

physics.flu-dyn↗

arXiv2025

Direct optimization of the probability of lesion origin in proton treatment planning for low-grade glioma patients

In proton therapy of low-grade glioma (LGG) patients, contrast-enhancing brain lesions (CEBLs) on magnetic resonance imaging are considered predictive of late radiation-induced lesions. From the observation that CEBLs tend to concentrate in regions of increased dose-averaged linear energy transfer (LET$_{\text{d}}$) and proximal to the ventricular system, the probability of lesion origin (POLO) model has been established as a multivariate logistic regression model for the voxel-wise probability prediction of the CEBL origin. To date, leveraging the predictive power of the POLO model for treatment planning relies on hand tuning the dose and LET$_{\text{d}}$ distribution to minimize the resulting probability predictions. In this paper, we therefore propose automated POLO model-based treatment planning by directly integrating POLO calculation and optimization into plan optimization for LGG patients. We introduce an extension of the original POLO model including a volumetric correction factor, and a model-based optimization scheme featuring a linear reformulation of the model together with feasible optimization functions based on the predicted POLO values. The developed framework is implemented in the open-source treatment planning toolkit matRad. Our framework can generate clinically acceptable treatment plans while automatically taking into account outcome predictions from the POLO model. It also supports the definition of customized POLO model-based objective and constraint functions. Optimization results from a sample LGG patient show that the POLO model-based outcome predictions can be minimized under expectable shifts in dose, LET$_{\text{d}}$, and POLO distributions, while sustaining target coverage ($\Delta_{\text{PTV}} \text{D95}_{RBE,fx}\approx{0.00}$, $\Delta_{\text{GTV}} \text{D95}_{RBE,fx}\approx{0.03}$), even when NTCP is strongly down-regulated.

physics.med-ph↗

arXiv2025

Energy Efficiency trends in HPC: what high-energy and astrophysicists need to know

The growing energy demands of HPC systems have made energy efficiency a critical concern for system developers and operators. However, HPC users are generally less aware of how these energy concerns influence the design, deployment, and operation of supercomputers even though they experience the consequences. This paper examines the implications of HPC's energy consumption, providing an overview of current trends aimed at improving energy efficiency. We describe how hardware innovations such as energy-efficient processors, novel system architectures, power management techniques, and advanced scheduling policies do have a direct impact on how applications need to be programmed and executed on HPC systems. For application developers, understanding how these new systems work and how to analyse and report the performances of their own software is critical in the dialog with HPC system designers and administrators. The paper aims to raise awareness about energy efficiency among users, particularly in the high energy physics and astrophysics domains, offering practical advice on how to analyse and optimise applications to reduce their energy consumption without compromising on performance.

cs.DC↗

arXiv2024

Numerical Robustness of PINNs for Multiscale Transport Equations

We investigate the numerical solution of multiscale transport equations using Physics Informed Neural Networks (PINNs) with ReLU activation functions. Therefore, we study the analogy between PINNs and Least-Squares Finite Elements (LSFE) which lies in the shared approach to reformulate the PDE solution as a minimization of a quadratic functional. We prove that in the diffusive regime, the correct limit is not reached, in agreement with known results for first-order LSFE. A diffusive scaling is introduced that can be applied to overcome this, again in full agreement with theoretical results for LSFE. We provide numerical results in the case of slab geometry that support our theoretical findings.

math.NA↗

arXiv2024

Energy-aware operation of HPC systems in Germany

High-Performance Computing (HPC) systems are among the most energy-intensive scientific facilities, with electric power consumption reaching and often exceeding 20 megawatts per installation. Unlike other major scientific infrastructures such as particle accelerators or high-intensity light sources, which are few around the world, the number and size of supercomputers are continuously increasing. Even if every new system generation is more energy efficient than the previous one, the overall growth in size of the HPC infrastructure, driven by a rising demand for computational capacity across all scientific disciplines, and especially by artificial intelligence workloads (AI), rapidly drives up the energy demand. This challenge is particularly significant for HPC centers in Germany, where high electricity costs, stringent national energy policies, and a strong commitment to environmental sustainability are key factors. This paper describes various state-of-the-art strategies and innovations employed to enhance the energy efficiency of HPC systems within the national context. Case studies from leading German HPC facilities illustrate the implementation of novel heterogeneous hardware architectures, advanced monitoring infrastructures, high-temperature cooling solutions, energy-aware scheduling, and dynamic power management, among other optimizations. By reviewing best practices and ongoing research, this paper aims to share valuable insight with the global HPC community, motivating the pursuit of more sustainable and energy-efficient HPC operations.

cs.DC↗

arXiv2024

Structure-preserving neural networks for the regularized entropy-based closure of the Boltzmann moment system

The main challenge of large-scale numerical simulation of radiation transport is the high memory and computation time requirements of discretization methods for kinetic equations. In this work, we derive and investigate a neural network-based approximation to the entropy closure method to accurately compute the solution of the multi-dimensional moment system with a low memory footprint and competitive computational time. We extend methods developed for the standard entropy-based closure to the context of regularized entropy-based closures. The main idea is to interpret structure-preserving neural network approximations of the regularized entropy closure as a two-stage approximation to the original entropy closure. We conduct a numerical analysis of this approximation and investigate optimal parameter choices. Our numerical experiments demonstrate that the method has a much lower memory footprint than traditional methods with competitive computation times and simulation accuracy.

math.NA↗

arXiv2024

Structure-Preserving Operator Learning: Modeling the Collision Operator of Kinetic Equations

This work explores the application of deep operator learning principles to a problem in statistical physics. Specifically, we consider the linear kinetic equation, consisting of a differential advection operator and an integral collision operator, which is a powerful yet expensive mathematical model for interacting particle systems with ample applications, e.g., in radiation transport. We investigate the capabilities of the Deep Operator network (DeepONet) approach to modelling the high dimensional collision operator of the linear kinetic equation. This integral operator has crucial analytical structures that a surrogate model, e.g., a DeepONet, needs to preserve to enable meaningful physical simulation. We propose several DeepONet modifications to encapsulate essential structural properties of this integral operator in a DeepONet model. To be precise, we adapt the architecture of the trunk-net so the DeepONet has the same collision invariants as the theoretical kinetic collision operator, thus preserving conserved quantities, e.g., mass, of the modeled many-particle system. Further, we propose an entropy-inspired data-sampling method tailored to train the modified DeepONet surrogates without requiring an excessive expensive simulation-based data generation.

math.NA↗

arXiv2024

Asymptotic-preserving and energy stable dynamical low-rank approximation for thermal radiative transfer equations

The thermal radiative transfer equations model temperature evolution through a background medium as a result of radiation. When a large number of particles are absorbed in a short time scale, the dynamics tend to a non-linear diffusion-type equation called the Rosseland approximation. The main challenges for constructing numerical schemes that exhibit the correct limiting behavior are posed by the solution's high-dimensional phase space and multi-scale effects. In this work, we propose an asymptotic-preserving and rank-adaptive dynamical low-rank approximation scheme based on the macro-micro decomposition of the particle density and a modified augmented basis-update \& Galerkin integrator. We show that this scheme, for linear particle emission by the material, dissipates energy over time under a step size restriction that captures the hyperbolic and parabolic CFL conditions. We demonstrate the efficacy of the proposed method in a series of numerical experiments.

math.NA↗

arXiv2024

Numerical simulation of endovascular treatment options for cerebral aneurysms

Predicting the long-term success of endovascular interventions in the clinical management of cerebral aneurysms requires detailed insight into the patient-specific physiological conditions. In this work, we not only propose numerical representations of endovascular medical devices such as coils, flow diverters or Woven EndoBridge but also outline numerical models for the prediction of blood flow patterns in the aneurysm cavity right after a surgical intervention. Detailed knowledge about the post-surgical state then lays the basis to assess the chances of a stable occlusion of the aneurysm required for a long-term treatment success. To this end, we propose mathematical and mechanical models of endovascular medical devices made out of thin metal wires. These can then be used for fully resolved flow simulations of the post-surgical blood flow, which in this work will be performed by means of a Lattice Boltzmann method applied to the incompressible Navier-Stokes equations and patient-specific geometries. To probe the suitability of homogenized models, we also investigate poro-elastic models to represent such medical devices. In particular, we examine the validity of this modeling approach for flow diverter placement across the opening of the aneurysm cavity. For both approaches, physiologically meaningful boundary conditions are provided from reduced-order models of the vascular system. The present study demonstrates our capabilities to predict the post-surgical state and lays a solid foundation to tackle the prediction of thrombus formation and, thus, the aneurysm occlusion in a next step.

math.NA↗

arXiv2022

RelaxNet: A structure-preserving neural network to approximate the Boltzmann collision operator

This paper addresses a neural network-based surrogate model that provides a structure-preserving approximation for the fivefold collision integral. The notion originates from the similarity in structure between the BGK-type relaxation model and residual neural network (ResNet) when a particle distribution function is treated as the input to the neural network function. We extend the ResNet architecture and construct what we call the relaxation neural network (RelaxNet). Specifically, two feed-forward neural networks with physics-informed connections and activations are introduced as building blocks in RelaxNet, which provide bounded and physically realizable approximations of the equilibrium distribution and velocity-dependent relaxation time respectively. The evaluation of the collision term is significantly accelerated since the convolution in the fivefold integral is replaced by tensor multiplication in the neural network. We fuse the mechanical advection operator and the RelaxNet-based collision operator into a unified model named the universal Boltzmann equation (UBE). We prove that UBE preserves the key structural properties in a many-particle system, i.e., positivity, conservation, invariance, and H-theorem. These properties promise that RelaxNet is superior to strategies that naively approximate the right-hand side of the Boltzmann equation using a machine learning model. The construction of the RelaxNet-based UBE and its solution algorithm are presented in detail. Several numerical experiments are investigated. The capability of the current approach for simulating non-equilibrium flow physics is validated through excellent in- and out-of-distribution performance.

physics.comp-ph↗

arXiv2022

Constructing relaxation systems for lattice Boltzmann methods

We present the first top-down ansatz for constructing lattice Boltzmann methods (LBM) in d dimensions. In particular, we construct a relaxation system (RS) for a given scalar, linear, d-dimensional advection-diffusion equation. Subsequently, the RS is linked to a d-dimensional discrete velocity Boltzmann model (DVBM) on the zeroth and first energy shell. Algebraic characterizations of the equilibrium, the moment space, and the collision operator are carried out. Further, a closed equation form of the RS expresses the added relaxation terms as prefactored higher order derivatives of the conserved quantity. Here, a generalized (2d+1)x(2d+1) RS is linked to a DdQ(2d+1) DVBM which, upon complete discretization, yields an LBM with second order accuracy in space and time. A rigorous convergence result for arbitrary scaling of the RS, the DVBM and conclusively also for the final LBM is proven. The top-down constructed LBM is numerically tested on multiple GPUs with smooth and non-smooth initial data in d=3 dimensions for several grid-normalized non-dimensional numbers.

math.NA↗

arXiv2022

Predicting continuum breakdown with deep neural networks

The multi-scale nature of gaseous flows poses tremendous difficulties for theoretical and numerical analysis. The Boltzmann equation, while possessing a wider applicability than hydrodynamic equations, requires significantly more computational resources due to the increased degrees of freedom in the model. The success of a hybrid fluid-kinetic flow solver for the study of multi-scale flows relies on accurate prediction of flow regimes. In this paper, we draw on binary classification in machine learning and propose the first neural network classifier to detect near-equilibrium and non-equilibrium flow regimes based on local flow conditions. Compared with classical semi-empirical criteria of continuum breakdown, the current method provides a data-driven alternative where the parameterized implicit function is trained by solutions of the Boltzmann equation. The ground-truth labels are derived rigorously from the deviation of particle distribution functions and the approximations based on the Chapman-Enskog ansatz. Therefore, no tunable parameter is needed in the criterion. Following the entropy closure of the Boltzmann moment system, a data generation strategy is developed to produce training and test sets. Numerical analysis shows its superiority over simulation-based samplings. A hybrid Boltzmann-Navier-Stokes flow solver is built correspondingly with adaptive partition of local flow regimes. Numerical experiments including one-dimensional Riemann problem, shear flow layer and hypersonic flow around circular cylinder are presented to validate the current scheme for simulating cross-scale and non-equilibrium flow physics. The quantitative comparison with a semi-empirical criterion and benchmark results demonstrates the capability of the current neural classifier to accurately predict continuum breakdown.

physics.flu-dyn↗

arXiv2022

Neural network-based, structure-preserving entropy closures for the Boltzmann moment system

This work presents neural network based minimal entropy closures for the moment system of the Boltzmann equation, that preserve the inherent structure of the system of partial differential equations, such as entropy dissipation and hyperbolicity. The described method embeds convexity of the moment to entropy map in the neural network approximation to preserve the structure of the minimal entropy closure. Two techniques are used to implement the methods. The first approach approximates the map between moments and the minimal entropy of the moment system and is convex by design. The second approach approximates the map between moments and Lagrange multipliers of the dual of the minimal entropy optimization problem, which present the gradients of the entropy with respect to the moments, and is enforced to be monotonic by introduction of a penalty function. We derive an error bound for the generalization gap of convex neural networks which are trained in Sobolev norm and use the results to construct data sampling methods for neural network training. Numerical experiments are conducted, which show that neural network-based entropy closures provide a significant speedup for kinetic solvers while maintaining a sufficient level of accuracy. The code for the described implementations can be found in the Github repositories.

math.NA↗

arXiv2022

Multivariate error modeling and uncertainty quantification using importance (re-)weighting for Monte Carlo simulations in particle transport

Fast and accurate predictions of uncertainties in the computed dose are crucial for the determination of robust treatment plans in radiation therapy. This requires the solution of particle transport problems with uncertain parameters or initial conditions. Monte Carlo methods are often used to solve transport problems especially for applications which require high accuracy. In these cases, common non-intrusive solution strategies that involve repeated simulations of the problem at different points in the parameter space quickly become infeasible due to their long run-times. Intrusive methods however limit the usability in combination with proprietary simulation engines. In our previous paper [51], we demonstrated the application of a new non-intrusive uncertainty quantification approach for Monte Carlo simulations in proton dose calculations with normally distributed errors on realistic patient data. In this paper, we introduce a generalized formulation and focus on a more in-depth theoretical analysis of this method concerning bias, error and convergence of the estimates. The multivariate input model of the proposed approach further supports almost arbitrary error correlation models. We demonstrate how this framework can be used to model and efficiently quantify complex auto-correlated and time-dependent errors.

physics.med-ph↗

arXiv2022

A low-rank power iteration scheme for neutron transport criticality problems

Computing effective eigenvalues for neutron transport often requires a fine numerical resolution. The main challenge of such computations is the high memory effort of classical solvers, which limits the accuracy of chosen discretizations. In this work, we derive a method for the computation of effective eigenvalues when the underlying solution has a low-rank structure. This is accomplished by utilizing dynamical low-rank approximation (DLRA), which is an efficient strategy to derive time evolution equations for low-rank solution representations. The main idea is to interpret the iterates of the classical inverse power iteration as pseudo-time steps and apply the DLRA concepts in this framework. In our numerical experiment, we demonstrate that our method significantly reduces memory requirements while achieving the desired accuracy. Analytic investigations show that the proposed iteration scheme inherits the convergence speed of the inverse power iteration, at least for a simplified setting.

math.NA↗