A conservative numerical method for the Cahn-Hilliard equation in complex domains

Jaemin Shin, Darae Jeong, Junseok Kim

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

21 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

We propose an efficient finite difference scheme for solving the Cahn-Hilliard equation with a variable mobility in complex domains. Our method employs a type of unconditionally gradient stable splitting discretization. We also extend the scheme to compute the Cahn-Hilliard equation in arbitrarily shaped domains. We prove the mass conservation property of the proposed discrete scheme for complex domains. The resulting discretized equations are solved using a multigrid method. Numerical simulations are presented to demonstrate that the proposed scheme can deal with complex geometries robustly. Furthermore, the multigrid efficiency is retained even if the embedded domain is present.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)7441-7455
Number of pages15
JournalJournal of Computational Physics
Volume230
Issue number19
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2011 Aug 10

Keywords

  • Cahn-Hilliard equation
  • Complex domain
  • Degenerate mobility
  • Multigrid method
  • Phase separation

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Numerical Analysis
  • Modelling and Simulation
  • Physics and Astronomy (miscellaneous)
  • Physics and Astronomy(all)
  • Computer Science Applications
  • Computational Mathematics
  • Applied Mathematics

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