35B40 Asymptotic behavior of solutions
We derive thermodynamically consistent models of reaction-diffusion equations
coupled to a heat equation. While the total energy is conserved, the total
entropy serves as a driving functional such that the full coupled system is a
gradient flow. The novelty of the approach is the Onsager structure, which is
the dual form of a gradient system, and the formulation in terms of the
densities and the internal energy. In these variables it is possible to assume
that the entropy density is strictly concave such that there is a unique
maximizer (thermodynamical equilibrium) given linear constraints on the total
energy and suitable density constraints.
We consider two particular systems of this type, namely, a
diffusion-reaction bipolar energy transport system, and a
drift-diffusion-reaction energy
transport system with confining potential. We prove corresponding
entropy-entropy production inequalities with explicitly calculable constants
and establish the convergence to thermodynamical equilibrium, at first in
entropy and further in $L^1$ using Cziszar-Kullback-Pinsker type inequalities.
Resolving thin conducting sheets for shielding or even skin layers inside by the mesh of numerical methods like the finite element method (FEM) can be avoided by using impedance transmission conditions (ITCs). Those ITCs shall provide an accurate approximation for small sheet thicknesses $d$, where the accuracy is best possible independent of the conductivity or the frequency being small or large -- this we will call robustness. We investigate the accuracy and robustness of popular and recently developed ITCs, and propose robust ITCs which are accurate up to $O(d^2)$.
An existence result is proved for a nonlinear diffusion problem of phase-field type, consisting of a parabolic system of two partial differential equations, complemented by Neumann homogeneous boundary conditions and initial
conditions. This system is meant to model two-species phase segregation on an atomic lattice under the presence of diffusion. A similar system has been recently
introduced and analyzed in [3]. Both systems conform to the general theory developed in [5]: two parabolic PDEs, interpreted as balances of microforces and microenergy,
are to be solved for the order parameter rho and the chemical potential mu. In the system studied in this note, a phase-field equation in rho fairly more general than in [3] is coupled with a highly nonlinear diffusion equation for mu, in which the conductivity coefficient is allowed to depend nonlinearly on both variables.
We are concerned with a nonstandard phase field model of
Cahn-Hilliard type. The model, which was introduced by Podio-Guidugli (Ric. Mat. 2006), describes two-species phase segregation and consists of a system of two highly nonlinearly coupled PDEs. It has been recently investigated
by Colli, Gilardi, Podio-Guidugli, and Sprekels in a series of papers: see, in particular, SIAM J. Appl. Math. 2011,
and Boll. Unione Mat. Ital. 2012. In the latter contribution, the authors can treat the very general case in which the diffusivity coefficient of the parabolic PDE
is allowed to depend nonlinearly on both variables. In the same framework, this paper investigates the asymptotic limit of the solutions to the initial-boundary value problems as the diffusion coefficient sigma in the equation governing the evolution of the order parameter tends to zero. We prove that such a limit actually exists and solves the limit problem, which couples a nonlinear PDE of parabolic type with an ODE accounting for the phase dynamics. In the case of a constant diffusivity, we are able to show uniqueness and to improve the regularity of the solution.
We consider a semilinear parabolic equation subject to a nonlinear dynamical boundary condition that is related to the so-calles Wentzell boundary condition. First, we prove the existence and uniqueness of global solutions as well as the existence of a global attractor. Then we derive a suitable Lojasiewicz-Simon-type inequality to show the convergence of global solutions to single steady states as time tends to infinity under the assumption that the nonlinear terms $f$, $g$ are real analytic. Moreover, we provide an estimate for the convergence rate.
We propose transmission conditions of order $1$, $2$ and $3$ approximating the shielding behaviour of thin conducting curved sheets for the magneto-quasistatic eddy current model in 2D. This model reduction applies to sheets whose thicknesses $\eps$ are at the order of the skin depth or essentially smaller. The sheet has itself not to be resolved, only its midline is represented by an interface. The computation is directly in one step with almost no additional cost. We prove the well-posedness w.r.t.~to the small parameter $\eps$ and obtain optimal bound for the modelling error outside the sheet of order $\eps^{N+1}$ for the condition of order $N$. We end the paper with numerical experiments involving high order finite elements for sheets with varying curvature.
Three families of transmission conditions of different order are proposed for thin conducting sheets in the eddy current model. Resolving the thin sheet by a finite element mesh is often not possible. With these transmission conditions only the middle curve, but not the thin sheet itself, has not to be resolved by a finite element mesh. The families of transmission conditions are derived by an asymptotic expansion for small sheet thicknesses $\eps$, where each family results from a different asymptotic framework. In the first asymptotic framework the conductivity remains constant, scales with $1/\eps$ in the second and with $1/\eps^2$ in the third. The different asymptotics lead to different limit conditions, namely the vanishing sheet, a non-trivial borderline case, and the impermeable sheet, as well as different transmission conditions of higher orders. We investigated the stability, the convergence of the transmission conditions as well as their robustness. We call transmission conditions robust, if they provide accurate approximation for a wide range of sheet thicknesses and conductivities. We introduce an ordering of transmission conditions for the same sheet with respect to the robustness, and observe that the condition derived for the $1/\eps$ asymptotics is the most robust limit condition, contrary to order 1 and higher, where the transmission conditions derived for the $1/\eps^2$ asymptotics turn out to be most robust.
We study a diffusion model of phase field type, consisting of
a system of two partial differential equations encoding the balances
of microforces and microenergy; the two unknowns are the order parameter
and the chemical potential. By a careful development of uniform estimates and
the deduction of certain useful boundedness properties, we
prove existence and uniqueness of a global-in-time
smooth solution to the associated initial/boundary-value problem;
moreover, we give a description of the relative $\omega$-limit set.