Analysis of a thermomechanical phase transition model

Subject of this work is a macroscopic thermomechanical model of phase transitions in steel. Effects like transformation strain and transformation plasticity induced by the phase transitions are considered and used to formulate a consistent thermomechanical model. The resulting system of state equations consists of a quasistatic momentum balance coupled with a nonlinear stress-strain relation, a nonlinear energy balance equation and a system of ODEs for the phase volume fractions. We prove the existence of a unique weak solution using fixed-point arguments. A key issue is a regularity analysis for the mechanical subsystem to obtain continuity of the stress tensor. (© 2008 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

A mathematical model for induction hardening including mechanical effects

We investigate a mathematical model for induction hardening of steel. It accounts for electromagnetic effects that lead to the heating of the workpiece as well as thermomechanical effects that cause the hardening of the workpiece. The new contribution of this paper is that we put a special emphasis on the thermomechanical effects caused by the phase transitions. We take care of effects like transformation strain and transformation plasticity induced by the phase transitions and allow for physical parameters depending on the respective phase volume fractions.The coupling between the electromagnetic and the thermomechanical part of the model is given through the temperature-dependent electric conductivity on the one hand and through the Joule heating term on the other hand, which appears in the energy balance and leads to the rise in temperature. Owing to the quadratic Joule heat term and a quadratic mechanical dissipation term in the energy balance, we obtain a parabolic equation with L¹ data. We prove existence of a weak solution to the complete system using a truncation argument.     

Generalized motion by mean curvature with Neumann conditions and the Allen-Cahn model for phase transitions

We study asharpinterface model for phase transitions which incorporates the interaction of the phase boundaries with the walls of a container Ω. In this model, the interfaces move by their mean curvature and are normal to δΩ. We first establish local-in-time existence and uniqueness of smooth solutions for the mean curvature equation with a normal contact angle condition. We then discuss global solutions by interpreting the equation and the boundary condition in a weak (viscosity) sense. Finally, we investigate the relation of the aforementioned model with atransitionlayer model. We prove that if Ω isconvex, the transition-layer solutions converge to the sharp-interface solutions as the thickness of the layer tends to zero. We conclude with a discussion of the difficulties that arise in establishing this result in nonconvex domains. Communicated by David Kinderlehrer     

Phase transitions and peculiarities of the growth of nuclei of the new phase of a substance

We describe phase transitions using a one-dimensional fractional differential kinetic equation of the Fokker-Planck type. We find a general solution describing the growth of nuclei during phase transitions in a fractal medium.     

Mixed finite element methods for a dynamical Ginzburg-Landau model in superconductivity

Summary. In this paper we consider the numerical solutions of the nonlinear time-dependent Ginzburg-Landau model which describes the phase transitions taking place in superconducting films. We propose a semi-implicit finite element scheme which is based on a linear finite element approximation of the order parameter and a mixed finite element discretization for the equation involving the magnetic potential A. The error estimates of the scheme are derived. Received September 5, 1994 / Revised version received April 23, 1995     

On a Conserved Penrose-Fife Type System

We deal with a class of Penrose-Fife type phase field models for phase transitions, where the phase dynamics is ruled by a Cahn-Hilliard type equation. Suitable assumptions on the behaviour of the heat flux as the absolute temperature tends to zero and to +∞ are considered. An existence result is obtained by a double approximation procedure and compactness methods. Moreover, uniqueness and regularity results are proved as well. The authors would like to acknowledge financial support from MIUR through COFIN grants and from the IMATI of the CNR, Pavia, Italy.     

Minimisers of the Allen–Cahn equation and the asymptotic Plateau problem on hyperbolic groups

We investigate the existence of non-constant uniformly-bounded minimal solutions of the Allen–Cahn equation on a Gromov-hyperbolic group. We show that whenever the Laplace term in the Allen–Cahn equation is small enough, there exist minimal solutions satisfying a large class of prescribed asymptotic behaviours. For a phase field model on a hyperbolic group, such solutions describe phase transitions that asymptotically converge towards prescribed phases, given by asymptotic directions. In the spirit of de Giorgi's conjecture, we then fix an asymptotic behaviour and let the Laplace term go to zero. In the limit we obtain a solution to a corresponding asymptotic Plateau problem by Γ-convergence.     

A model for resistance welding including phase transitions and Joule heating

In this paper, we introduce a new model for solid–liquid phase transitions triggered by Joule heating as they arise in the case of resistance welding of metal parts. The main novelties of the paper are the coupling of the thermistor problem with a phase‐field model and the consideration of phase‐dependent physical parameters through a mixture ansatz. The PDE system resulting from our modeling approach couples a strongly nonlinear heat equation, a non‐smooth equation for the the phase parameter (standing for the local proportion of one of the two phases) with a quasistatic electric charge conservation law. We prove the existence of weak solutions in the three‐dimensional (3D) case, whereas the regularity result and the uniqueness of solution is stated only in the two‐dimensional case. Indeed, uniqueness for the 3D system is still an open problem. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Well-Posedness and Regularity for a Parabolic-Hyperbolic Penrose-Fife Phase Field System

This work is concerned with the study of an initial boundary value problem for a non-conserved phase field system arising from the Penrose-Fife approach to the kinetics of phase transitions. The system couples a nonlinear parabolic equation for the absolute temperature with a nonlinear hyperbolic equation for the phase variable χ, which is characterized by the presence of an inertial term multiplied by a small positive coefficient μ. This feature is the main consequence of supposing that the response of χ to the generalized force (which is the functional derivative of a free energy potential and arises as a consequence of the tendency of the free energy to decay towards a minimum) is subject to delay. We first obtain well-posedness for the resulting initial-boundary value problem in which the heat flux law contains a special function of the absolute temperature ϑ, i.e. α(ϑ) ∼ ϑ − 1/ϑ. Then we prove convergence of any family of weak solutions of the parabolic-hyperbolic model to a weak solution of the standard Penrose-Fife model as μ ↘ 0. However, the main novelty of this paper consists in proving some regularity results on solutions of the parabolic-hyperbolic system (including also estimates of Moser type) that could be useful for the study of the longterm dynamics.     

Conservation laws with a random source

We study the scalar conservation law with a noisy nonlinear source, namely,u _l + f(u)_x = h(u, x, t) + g(u)W(t), whereW(t) is the white noise in the time variable, and we analyse the Cauchy problem for this equation where the initial data are assumed to be deterministic. A method is proposed to construct approximate weak solutions, and we then show that this yields a convergent sequence. This sequence converges to a (pathwise) solution of the Cauchy problem. The equation can be considered as a model of deterministic driven phase transitions with a random perturbation in a system of two constituents. Finally we show some numerical results motivated by two-phase flow in porous media. This research has been supported by VISTA (a research cooperation between the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters and Den norske stats oljeselskap, Statoil) and NAVF (the Norwegian Research Council for Science and the Humanities).     

Analysis of a nonlinear degenerating PDE system for phase transitions in thermoviscoelastic materials

We address the analysis of a nonlinear and degenerating PDE system, proposed by M. Frémond for modelling phase transitions in viscoelastic materials subject to thermal effects. The system features an internal energy balance equation, governing the evolution of the absolute temperature ?, an evolution equation for the phase change parameter χ, and a stress-strain relation for the displacement variable u. The main novelty of the model is that the equations for χ and u are coupled in such a way as to take into account the fact that the properties of the viscous and of the elastic parts influence the phase transition phenomenon in different ways. However, this brings about an elliptic degeneracy in the equation for u which needs to be carefully handled.In this paper, we first prove a local (in time) well-posedness result for (a suitable initial-boundary value problem for) the above mentioned PDE system, in the (spatially) three-dimensional setting. Secondly, we restrict to the one-dimensional case, in which, for the same initial-boundary value problem, we indeed obtain a global well-posedness theorem.     

Irreversible Phase Transitions in Steel

We present a mathematical model for the austenite–pearlite and austenite–martensite phase transitions in eutectoid carbon steel. The austenite–pearlite phase change is described by the Additivity Rule. For the austenite–martensite phase change we propose a new rate law, which takes into account its irreversibility. We investigate questions of existence and uniqueness for the three-dimensional model and finally present numerical calculations of a continuous cooling transformation diagram for the eutectoid carbon steel C1080. © 1997 by B.G. Teubner Stuttgart-John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Generalized coherent states and nonlinear dynamics of a lattice quasispin model

The nonlinear lattice equation of the ϕ⁶ theory is studied by using the technique of generalized coherent states associated to a SU(2) Lie group. We analyze the discrete nonlinear equation with weak interaction between sites. The existence of saddles and centers is shown. The qualitative parametric domains which contain kinks, bubbles and plane waves were obtained. The specific implications of saddles and centers to the parametric first- and second-order phase transitions are identified and analyzed.     

Macroscopic Limits and Phase Transition in a System of Self-propelled Particles

We investigate systems of self-propelled particles with alignment interaction. Compared to previous work (Degond and Motsch, Math. Models Methods Appl. Sci. 18:1193–1215, 2008a; Frouvelle, Math. Models Methods Appl. Sci., 2012), the force acting on the particles is not normalized, and this modification gives rise to phase transitions from disordered states at low density to aligned states at high densities. This model is the space-inhomogeneous extension of (Frouvelle and Liu, Dynamics in a kinetic model of oriented particles with phase transition, 2012), in which the existence and stability of the equilibrium states were investigated. When the density is lower than a threshold value, the dynamics is described by a nonlinear diffusion equation. By contrast, when the density is larger than this threshold value, the dynamics is described by a similar hydrodynamic model for self-alignment interactions as derived in (Degond and Motsch, Math. Models Methods Appl. Sci. 18:1193–1215, 2008a; Frouvelle, Math. Models Methods Appl. Sci., 2012). However, the modified normalization of the force gives rise to different convection speeds, and the resulting model may lose its hyperbolicity in some regions of the state space.     

Phase transitions and generalized motion by mean curvature

We study the limiting behavior of solutions to appropriately rescaled versions of the Allen-Cahn equation, a simplified model for dynamic phase transitions. We rigorously establish the existence in the limit of a phase-antiphase interface evolving according to mean curvature motion. This assertion is valid for all positive time, the motion interpreted in the generalized sense of Evans-Spruck and Chen-Giga-Goto after the onset of geometric singularities.     

Minimisers of the Allen–Cahn equation on hyperbolic graphs

We investigate minimal solutions of the Allen–Cahn equation on a Gromov-hyperbolic graph. Under some natural conditions on the graph, we show the existence of non-constant uniformly-bounded minimal solutions with prescribed asymptotic behaviours. For a phase field model on a hyperbolic graph, such solutions describe energy-minimising steady-state phase transitions that converge towards prescribed phases given by the asymptotic directions on the graph.     

Particle Interactions Mediated by Dynamical Networks: Assessment of Macroscopic Descriptions

We provide a numerical study of the macroscopic model of Barré et al. (Multiscale Model Simul, 2017, to appear) derived from an agent-based model for a system of particles interacting through a dynamical network of links. Assuming that the network remodeling process is very fast, the macroscopic model takes the form of a single aggregation–diffusion equation for the density of particles. The theoretical study of the macroscopic model gives precise criteria for the phase transitions of the steady states, and in the one-dimensional case, we show numerically that the stationary solutions of the microscopic model undergo the same phase transitions and bifurcation types as the macroscopic model. In the two-dimensional case, we show that the numerical simulations of the macroscopic model are in excellent agreement with the predicted theoretical values. This study provides a partial validation of the formal derivation of the macroscopic model from a microscopic formulation and shows that the former is a consistent approximation of an underlying particle dynamics, making it a powerful tool for the modeling of dynamical networks at a large scale.     

Finite element methods for problems with solid-liquid-solid phase transitions and free melt surface

Modeling and computation of a process with solid-liquid-solid phase transitions and a free capillary surface is discussed. The main components of the model are heat conduction, a free melt surface, a moving phase boundary, and its coupling with the Navier-Stokes equations. We present two different approaches for handling the phase transitions by applying in a FE method, namely an energy conservation based approach, and a sharp interface approach with moving mesh. By combining both methods, we benefit from the advantages of the respective approach. The methods are applied to a problem where material is accumulated by melting the tip of thin steel wires using laser heating. (© 2012 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Existence of global weak solutions for a phase–field model of a vesicle moving into a viscous incompressible fluid

We consider in this article a model of vesicle moving into a viscous incompressible fluid. The vesicle is described through a phase–field equation and through a transport equation modeling the local incompressibility of its membrane. The equations for the fluid are the classical Navier–Stokes equations with a force resulting from the presence of the vesicle. Our main result states the existence of weak solutions for the corresponding system. The proof is based on compactness/monotonicity arguments. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Attractor for a conserved phase‐field system with hyperbolic heat conduction

We consider a conserved phase‐field system of Caginalp type, characterized by the assumption that both the internal energy and the heat flux depend on the past history of the temperature and its gradient, respectively. The latter dependence is a law of Gurtin–Pipkin type, so that the equation ruling the temperature evolution is hyperbolic. Thus, the system consists of a hyperbolic integrodifferential equation coupled with a fourth‐order evolution equation for the phase‐field. This model, endowed with suitable boundary conditions, has already been analysed within the theory of dissipative dynamical systems, and the existence of an absorbing set has been obtained. Here we prove the existence of the universal attractor. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.