# Graph Network-based Structural Simulator: Graph Neural Networks for Structural Dynamics

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/2510.25683 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/2510.25683/

## Key facts

- Cited by 1 papers in the map (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- Builds on 20 of its 41 references that are in the map.
- First posted on arXiv 29 Oct 2025.

## Builds on (most cited first, 20 of 20)

- [U-Net: Convolutional Networks for Biomedical Image Segmentation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1505.04597/) (2015)
- [Neural Message Passing for Quantum Chemistry](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1704.01212/) (2017)
- [A Comprehensive Survey on Graph Neural Networks](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1901.00596/) (2019)
- [Fourier Neural Operator for Parametric Partial Differential Equations](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2010.08895/) (2020)
- [Convolutional LSTM Network: A Machine Learning Approach for Precipitation Nowcasting](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1506.04214/) (2015)
- [Relational inductive biases, deep learning, and graph networks](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1806.01261/) (2018)
- [Geometric deep learning: going beyond Euclidean data](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1611.08097/) (2016)
- [Learning to Simulate Complex Physics with Graph Networks](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2002.09405/) (2020)
- [Learning Mesh-Based Simulation with Graph Networks](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2010.03409/) (2020)
- [Characterizing possible failure modes in physics-informed neural networks](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2109.01050/) (2021)
- [Neural Operator: Learning Maps Between Function Spaces](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2108.08481/) (2021)
- [Respecting causality is all you need for training physics-informed neural networks](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2203.07404/) (2022)
- [Inverse-Dirichlet Weighting Enables Reliable Training of Physics Informed Neural Networks](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2107.00940/) (2021)
- [MAgNET: A Graph U-Net Architecture for Mesh-Based Simulations](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2211.00713/) (2022)
- [Deep Learning in Deterministic Computational Mechanics](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2309.15421/) (2023)
- [Edge-Featured Graph Attention Network](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2101.07671/) (2021)
- [Graph Neural Network-based surrogate model for granular flows](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2305.05218/) (2023)
- [A review of graph neural network applications in mechanics-related domains](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2407.11060/) (2024)
- [Graph Neural Network-based Surrogate Models for Finite Element Analysis](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2211.09373/) (2022)
- [Graph Neural Network Based Surrogate Model of Physics Simulations for Geometry Design](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2302.00557/) (2023)

## Built on by (most cited first, 1 of 1)

- [Physics-Informed Coarsening for Multigrid Graph Neural Surrogates](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2605.31013/) (2026)

## Abstract (arXiv)

Graph Neural Networks (GNNs) have recently been explored as surrogate models for numerical simulations. While their applications in computational fluid dynamics have been investigated, little attention has been given to structural problems, especially for dynamic cases. To address this gap, we introduce the Graph Network-based Structural Simulator (GNSS), a GNN framework for surrogate modeling of dynamic structural problems. GNSS follows the encode-process-decode paradigm typical of GNN-based machine learning models, and its design makes it particularly suited for dynamic simulations thanks to three key features: (i) expressing node kinematics in node-fixed local frames, which avoids catastrophic cancellation in finite-difference velocities; (ii) employing a sign-aware regression loss, which reduces phase errors in long rollouts; and (iii) using a wavelength-informed connectivity radius, which optimizes graph construction. We evaluate GNSS on a case study involving a beam excited by a 50kHz Hanning-modulated pulse. The results show that GNSS accurately reproduces the physics of the problem over hundreds of timesteps and generalizes to unseen loading conditions, where existing GNNs fail to converge or deliver meaningful predictions. Compared with explicit finite element baselines, GNSS achieves substantial inference speedups while preserving spatial and temporal fidelity. These findings demonstrate that locality-preserving GNNs with physics-consistent update rules are a competitive alternative for dynamic, wave-dominated structural simulations.