NeVF: Representing CFD simulations as neural flow volume fields for efficient compression, reconstruction, and analysis

Computer-Aided Civil and Infrastructure Engineering

1Universidade da Coruña      2CITIC      3Clemson University
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System overview of the proposed image volume sampling and compression framework.

Original LES dataset.

Compression and reconstruction results for surface pressures.

Abstract

Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) simulations of civil engineering aerodynamics, which are commonly characterized by complex three-dimensional flow fields, generate massive spatiotemporal datasets, creating significant storage and computational bottlenecks that heavily constrain iterative engineering workflows. To overcome these challenges, this paper presents a novel two-stage compression framework that models three-dimensional flow field data using Neural Flow Volume Fields (NeVF). The first stage employs a distance field-biased flow importance sampling (3D BiFIS) strategy to reduce data dimensionality intelligently; this approach selectively extracts key near-wall flow information, guided by surface proximity to construct a “relaxed” image volume. Subsequently, a deep network, leveraging positional encodings and disentangled spatio-temporal attention mechanisms, highly compresses this volumetric representation. The effectiveness of the resulting flow field representation is evaluated using a comprehensive 3D Large-Eddy Simulation (LES) dataset of a bluff single-box bridge deck, characterized by complex, uncorrelated spanwise flow features. Results demonstrate high data compression rates of 7000:1 to 30000:1 while preserving high-fidelity near-body aerodynamic flow features, enabling accurate estimation of wind-induced forces. Ultimately, our methodology streamlines efficient storage, reconstruction, and rapid analysis of exascale CFD datasets, unlocking potential new applications for deep learning emulation and data-intensive tasks, such as, uncertainty quantification and flow-driven aero-structural optimization.

Evaluation

Comparison against other SoTA methods.

BibTeX

@Article{mures2026nevf,
  author = {Mures, Omar A. and Cid Montoya, Miguel},
  title = {{NeVF: Representing CFD} simulations as neural flow volume fields for efficient compression, reconstruction, and analysis},
  journal = {Computer-Aided Civil and Infrastructure Engineering},
  volume = {49},
  pages = {100125},
  year = {2026},
  doi = {10.1016/j.cacaie.2026.100125},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cacaie.2026.100125},
}