Evaluating Machine Learning Techniques for Fluid Mechanics: Comparative Analysis of Accuracy and Computational Efficiency

Abstract

This study focuses on applying machine learning (ML) techniques to fluid mechanics problems. Various ML techniques were used to create a series of case studies, where their accuracy and computational costs were compared, and behavior patterns in different problem types were analyzed. The goal is to evaluate the effectiveness and efficiency of ML techniques in fluid mechanics and to contribute to the field by comparing them with traditional methods. Case studies were also conducted using Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD), and the results were compared with those from ML techniques in terms of accuracy and computational cost. For Case 1, after optimizing relevant parameters, the Artificial Neural Network (ANN), Random Forest (RF), and Support Vector Machine (SVM) models all achieved an R² value above 0.9. However, in Case 2, only the ANN method surpassed this threshold, likely due to the limited data available. In Case 3, all models except for Linear Regression (LR) demonstrated predictive abilities above the 0.9 threshold after parameter optimization. The LR method was found to have low applicability to fluid mechanics problems, while SVM and ANN methods proved to be particularly effective tools after grid search optimization.