Numerics of thin-film free boundary problems for partial wetting

We present a novel framework to solve thin-film equations with an explicit non-zero contact angle, where the support of the solution is treated as an unknown. The algorithm uses a finite element method based on a gradient formulation of the thin-film equations coupled to an arbitrary Lagrangian-Eulerian method for the motion of the support. Features of this algorithm are its simplicity and robustness. We apply this algorithm in 1D and 2D to problems with surface tension, contact angles and with gravity

The cutoff method for the numerical computation of nonnegative solutions of parabolic PDEs with application to anisotropic diffusion and lubrication-type equations

The cutoff method, which cuts off the values of a function less than a given number, is studied for the numerical computation of nonnegative solutions of parabolic partial differential equations. A convergence analysis is given for a broad class of finite difference methods combined with cutoff for linear parabolic equations. Two applications are investigated, linear anisotropic diffusion problems satisfying the setting of the convergence analysis and nonlinear lubrication-type equations for which it is unclear if the convergence analysis applies. The numerical results are shown to be consistent with the theory and in good agreement with existing results in the literature. The convergence analysis and applications demonstrate that the cutoff method is an effective tool for use in the computation of nonnegative solutions. Cutoff can also be used with other discretization methods such as collocation, finite volume, finite element, and spectral methods and for the computation of positive solutions.Comment: 19 pages, 41 figure

Discretization schemes and numerical approximations of PDE impainting models and a comparative evaluation on novel real world MRI reconstruction applications

While various PDE models are in discussion since the last ten years and are widely applied nowadays in image processing and computer vision tasks, including restoration, filtering, segmentation and object tracking, the perspective adopted in the majority of the relevant reports is the view of applied mathematician, attempting to prove the existence theorems and devise exact numerical methods for solving them. Unfortunately, such solutions are exact for the continuous PDEs but due to the discrete approximations involved in image processing, the results yielded might be quite unsatisfactory. The major contribution of This work is, therefore, to present, from an engineering perspective, the application of PDE models in image processing analysis, from the algorithmic point of view, the discretization and numerical approximation schemes used for solving them. It is of course impossible to tackle all PDE models applied in image processing in this report from the computational point of view. It is, therefore, focused on image impainting PDE models, that is on PDEs, including anisotropic diffusion PDEs, higher order non-linear PDEs, variational PDEs and other constrained/regularized and unconstrained models, applied to image interpolation/ reconstruction. Apart from this novel computational critical overview and presentation of the PDE image impainting models numerical analysis, the second major contribution of This work is to evaluate, especially the anisotropic diffusion PDEs, in novel real world image impainting applications related to MRI

Contact-line instability of dewetting thin films

We investigate the linear stability of dewetting thin polymer films on hydrophobised substrates driven by Van-der-Waals forces, using a lubrication model. We focus on the role of slippage in the emerging instability at the three-phase contact-line and compare our results to the corresponding no-slip case. Our analysis shows that generically, small perturbations of the receding front are amplified, but in the slippage case by orders of magnitude larger than in the no-slip case. Moreover, while the perturbations become symmetrical in the no-slip case, they are asymmetrical in the slippage case. We furthermore extend our lubrication model to include effects of nonlinear curvature

Long-time behavior of a finite volume discretization for a fourth order diffusion equation

We consider a non-standard finite-volume discretization of a strongly non-linear fourth order diffusion equation on the $d$-dimensional cube, for arbitrary $d \geq 1$. The scheme preserves two important structural properties of the equation: the first is the interpretation as a gradient flow in a mass transportation metric, and the second is an intimate relation to a linear Fokker-Planck equation. Thanks to these structural properties, the scheme possesses two discrete Lyapunov functionals. These functionals approximate the entropy and the Fisher information, respectively, and their dissipation rates converge to the optimal ones in the discrete-to-continuous limit. Using the dissipation, we derive estimates on the long-time asymptotics of the discrete solutions. Finally, we present results from numerical experiments which indicate that our discretization is able to capture significant features of the complex original dynamics, even with a rather coarse spatial resolution.Comment: 27 pages, minor change

Signatures of slip in dewetting polymer films

Thin liquid polymer films on hydrophobic substrates are susceptable to rupture and formation of holes, which in turn initiate a complex dewetting process that eventually evolves into characteristic stationary droplet patterns. Experimental and theoretical studies suggest that the specific type of droplet pattern largely depends on the nature of the polymer-substrate boundary condition. To follow the morphological evolution numerically over long time scales and for the multiple length scales involved has so far been a major challenge. In this study a highly adaptive finite-element based numerical scheme is presented that allows for large-scale simulations to follow the evolution of the dewetting process deep into the nonlinear regime of the model equations, capturing the complex dynamics including shedding of droplets. In addition, the numerical results predict the previouly unknown shedding of satellite droplets during the destabilisation of liquid ridges, that form during the late stages of the dewetting process. While the formation of satellite droplets is well-known in the context of elongating fluid filaments and jets, we show here that for dewetting liquid ridges this property can be dramatically altered by the interfacial condition between polymer and substrate, namely slip

Structure preserving primal dual methods for gradient flows with nonlinear mobility transport distances

We develop structure preserving schemes for a class of nonlinear mobility continuity equation. When the mobility is a concave function, this equation admits a form of gradient flow with respect to a Wasserstein-like transport metric. Our numerical schemes build upon such formulation and utilize modern large scale optimization algorithms. There are two distinctive features of our approach compared to previous ones. On one hand, the essential properties of the solution, including positivity, global bounds, mass conservation and energy dissipation are all guaranteed by construction. On the other hand, it enjoys sufficient flexibility when applies to a large variety of problems including different free energy functionals, general wetting boundary conditions and degenerate mobilities. The performance of our methods are demonstrated through a suite of examples.Comment: 24 pages, 12 figure

A Second Order Fully-discrete Linear Energy Stable Scheme for a Binary Compressible Viscous Fluid Model

We present a linear, second order fully discrete numerical scheme on a staggered grid for a thermodynamically consistent hydrodynamic phase field model of binary compressible fluid flow mixtures derived from the generalized Onsager Principle. The hydrodynamic model not only possesses the variational structure, but also warrants the mass, linear momentum conservation as well as energy dissipation. We first reformulate the model in an equivalent form using the energy quadratization method and then discretize the reformulated model to obtain a semi-discrete partial differential equation system using the Crank-Nicolson method in time. The numerical scheme so derived preserves the mass conservation and energy dissipation law at the semi-discrete level. Then, we discretize the semi-discrete PDE system on a staggered grid in space to arrive at a fully discrete scheme using the 2nd order finite difference method, which respects a discrete energy dissipation law. We prove the unique solvability of the linear system resulting from the fully discrete scheme. Mesh refinements and two numerical examples on phase separation due to the spinodal decomposition in two polymeric fluids and interface evolution in the gas-liquid mixture are presented to show the convergence property and the usefulness of the new scheme in applications