Physics-informed machine learning for surrogate modeling of wind pressure and optimization of pressure sensor placement

This paper presents a predictive computational framework for surrogate modeling of pressure field and optimization of pressure sensor placement for wind engineering applications. Firstly, a machine learning-derived surrogate model, trained by high-fidelity simulation data using finite element-based CFD and informed by a turbulence model, is developed to construct the full-field pressure from scattered sensor measurements in near real-time. Then, the surrogate pressure model is embedded in another neural network (NN) for optimizing pressure sensor placement. The goal of the NN-based optimizer is to learn the best layout of a fixed number of pressure sensors over the structural surface to deliver the most accurate full-field pressure prediction for various inflow wind conditions. We deploy the model to a representative low-rise building subjected to different wind conditions. The performance of the proposed framework is assessed by comparing the predicted results with finite element-based CFD simulation results. The framework shows excellent accuracy and efficiency, which could be potentially integrated with structural health monitoring to enable digital twins of civil structures.