Predictions of transient vector solution fields with sequential deep operator network

The deep operator network (DeepONet) structure has shown great potential in approximating complex solution operators with low generalization errors. Recently, a sequential DeepONet (S-DeepONet) was proposed to use sequential learning models in the branch of DeepONet to predict final solutions given time-dependent inputs. In the current work, the S-DeepONet architecture is extended by modifying the information combination mechanism between the branch and trunk networks to simultaneously predict vector solutions with multiple components at multiple time steps of the evolution history, which is the first in the literature using DeepONets. Two example problems, one on transient fluid flow and the other on path-dependent plastic loading, were shown to demonstrate the capabilities of the model to handle different physics problems. The use of a trained S-DeepONet model in inverse parameter identification via the genetic algorithm is shown to demonstrate the application of the model. In almost all cases, the trained model achieved an \(R^2\) value of above 0.99 and a relative \(L_2\) error of less than 10% with only 3200 training data points, indicating superior accuracy. The vector S-DeepONet model, having only 0.4% more parameters than a scalar model, can predict two output components simultaneously at an accuracy similar to the two independently trained scalar models with a 20.8% faster training time. The S-DeepONet inference is at least three orders of magnitude faster than direct numerical simulations, and inverse parameter identifications using the trained model are highly efficient and accurate.