A Second Order Accurate in Time, Energy Stable Finite Element Scheme for a Liquid Thin Film Coarsening Model
Year: 2025
Author: Maoqin Yuan, Lixiu Dong, Juan Zhang
Numerical Mathematics: Theory, Methods and Applications, Vol. 18 (2025), Iss. 1 : pp. 127–156
Abstract
In this paper, we propose and analyze a second order accurate (in time) mass lumped mixed finite element numerical scheme for the liquid thin film coarsening model with a singular Leonard-Jones energy potential. The backward differentiation formula (BDF) stencil is applied in the temporal discretization, and a convex-concave decomposition is derived, so that the concave part corresponds to a quadratic energy. In turn, the Leonard-Jones potential term is treated implicitly and the concave part is approximated by a second order Adams-Bashforth explicit extrapolation. An artificial Douglas-Dupont regularization term is added to ensure the energy stability. Furthermore, we provide a theoretical justification that this numerical algorithm has a unique solution, such that the positivity property is always preserved for the phase variable at a point-wise level, so that a singularity is avoided in the scheme. In fact, the singular nature of the Leonard-Jones potential term around the value of 0 and the mass lumped FEM approach play an essential role in the positivity-preserving property in the discrete level. In addition, an optimal rate convergence estimate in the $ℓ^∞(0, T ; H^{−1}_h )∩ ℓ^2 (0, T ; H^1_h )$ norm is presented. Finally, two numerical experiments are carried out to verify the theoretical properties.
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Journal Article Details
Publisher Name: Global Science Press
Language: English
DOI: https://doi.org/10.4208/nmtma.OA-2024-0081
Numerical Mathematics: Theory, Methods and Applications, Vol. 18 (2025), Iss. 1 : pp. 127–156
Published online: 2025-01
AMS Subject Headings:
Copyright: COPYRIGHT: © Global Science Press
Pages: 30
Keywords: Liquid thin film model second order accuracy mass lumped mixed FEM positivity preserving energy stability optimal rate convergence analysis.