Inherent Failure Modes of Physics-Informed Neural Networks for Buoyancy-Driven Flow: Role of Non-Dimensionalization in Network Training

Abstract

We investigate the influence of non-dimensionalization on the trainability and accuracy of physics-informed neural networks (PINNs) for buoyancy-driven flows. Using a differentially heated square cavity at $\mathrm{Pr}=0.71$ and $\mathrm{Ra}=10^3$–$10^5$, we compare thermal-diffusive and free-fall velocity scalings under identical training conditions. The free-fall scaling, with a unit buoyancy coefficient, achieves errors below 1.1% in the mean Nusselt number for $\mathrm{Ra}\le10^4$, whereas the diffusive scaling, with a buoyancy coefficient of $\mathrm{Ra}\,\mathrm{Pr}$, produces errors of 157–650% and diverges at $\mathrm{Ra}=10^5$. We identify a coefficient-induced gradient imbalance, with the dominant buoyancy-related contribution to the loss gradient scaling as $(\mathrm{Ra}\,\mathrm{Pr})^2$, and confirm it through direct gradient measurements. Neither sparse-data supervision nor adaptive loss weighting resolves the training difficulties under the tested conditions. For unsteady convection, the free-fall PINN accurately predicts long-time heat transfer but fails to capture the transient Nusselt-number overshoot. These findings establish non-dimensionalization as an important design consideration for improving PINN trainability in buoyancy-driven flows.