DCEM: A deep complementary energy method for linear elasticity

Abstract In recent years, the rapid advancement of deep learning has significantly impacted various fields, particularly in solving partial differential equations (PDEs) in the realm of solid mechanics, benefiting greatly from the remarkable approximation capabilities of neural networks. In solving PDEs, physics‐informed neural networks (PINNs) and the deep energy method (DEM) have garnered substantial attention. The principle of minimum potential energy and complementary energy are two important variational principles in solid mechanics. However, the well‐known DEM is based on the principle of minimum potential energy, but it lacks the important form of minimum complementary energy. To bridge this gap, we propose the deep complementary energy method (DCEM) based on the principle of minimum complementary energy. The output function of DCEM is the stress function, which inherently satisfies the equilibrium equation. We present numerical results of classical linear elasticity using the Prandtl and Airy stress functions, and compare DCEM with existing PINNs and DEM algorithms when modeling representative mechanical problems. The results demonstrate that DCEM outperforms DEM in terms of stress accuracy and efficiency and has an advantage in dealing with complex displacement boundary conditions, which is supported by theoretical analyses and numerical simulations. We extend DCEM to DCEM‐Plus (DCEM‐P), adding terms that satisfy PDEs. Furthermore, we propose a deep complementary energy operator method (DCEM‐O) by combining operator learning with physical equations. Initially, we train DCEM‐O using high‐fidelity numerical results and then incorporate complementary energy. DCEM‐P and DCEM‐O further enhance the accuracy and efficiency of DCEM.