Physics-constrained machine-learning surrogates for the colebrook friction factor: monotonic gradient boosting, uncertainty quantification, and open benchmarking
摘要
The Darcy-Weisbach friction factor is used to determine the head losses occurring due to friction in pressurised pipes. It is defined by the Colebrook-White Equation as an implicit function of the Reynolds number and relative roughness for which iterative methods are generally required. Explicitly derived approximations can be obtained very quickly but have parameter dependent errors, do not guarantee monotonicity, and give no indication of the level of uncertainty associated with these approximations. Most existing Machine Learning Surrogate models produce accurate representations but rarely constrain their predictions to enforce physically meaningful monotonic relationships, nor provide probabilistic estimates of their reliability. This paper develops a Monotonic Gradient Boosting (MGB) surrogate model that constrains its predictions based on physics-based monotonic relationships and provides both calibrated error bound approximations using quantile boosting and split conformal prediction methods as well as a transparent benchmarking protocol. On the fixed