WAN3DNS: Weak Adversarial Networks for Solving 3D Incompressible Navier-Stokes Equations

Abstract

The 3D incompressible Navier-Stokes equations model essential fluid phenomena, including turbulence and aerodynamics, but are challenging to solve due to nonlinearity and limited solution regularity. Despite extensive research, the full mathematical understanding of the 3D incompressible Navier-Stokes equations continues to elude scientists, highlighting the depth and difficulty of the problem. Classical solvers are costly, and neural network-based methods typically assume strong solutions, limiting their use in underresolved regimes. We introduce WAN3DNS, a weak-form neural solver that recasts the equations as a minimax optimization problem, allowing learning directly from weak solutions. Using the weak formulation, WAN3DNS circumvents the stringent differentiability requirements of classical physics-informed neural networks (PINNs) and accommodates scenarios where weak solutions exist, but strong solutions may not. We evaluated WAN3DNS's accuracy and effectiveness in three benchmark cases: the 2D Kovasznay, 3D Beltrami, and 3D lid-driven cavity flows. Furthermore, using Galerkin's theory, we conduct a rigorous error analysis and show that the $L^{2}$ training error is controllably bounded by the architectural parameters of the network and the norm of residues. This implies that for neural networks with small loss, the corresponding $L^{2}$ error will also be small. This work bridges the gap between weak solution theory and deep learning, offering a robust alternative for complex fluid flow simulations with reduced regularity constraints. Code: https://github.com/Wenran-Li/WAN3DNS