arXiv subjects

Adrian Muntean

Publications and source records attributed to Adrian Muntean.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

arXiv2024

A Bound Preserving Energy Stable Scheme for a Nonlocal Cahn-Hilliard Equation

We present a finite-volume based numerical scheme for a nonlocal Cahn-Hilliard equation which combines ideas from recent numerical schemes for gradient flow equations and nonlocal Cahn-Hilliard equations. The equation of interest is a special case of a previously derived and studied system of equations which describes phase separation in ternary mixtures. We prove the scheme is both energy stable and respects the analytical bounds of the solution. Furthermore, we present numerical demonstrations of the theoretical results using both the Flory-Huggins (FH) and Ginzburg-Landau (GL) free-energy potentials.

math.NA↗

arXiv2023

Phase separation and morphology formation in interacting ternary mixtures under evaporation: Well-posedness and numerical simulation of a non-local evolution system

We study a nonlinear coupled parabolic system with non-local drift terms modeling at the continuum level the inter-species interaction within a ternary mixture that allows the evaporation of one of the species. In the absence of evaporation, the proposed system coincides with the hydrodynamic limit of a stochastic interacting particle system of Blume-Capel-type driven by the Kawasaki dynamics. Similar governing dynamics are found in models used to study morphology formation in the design of organic solar cells, thin adhesive bands, and other applications. We investigate the well-posedness of the target system and present preliminary numerical simulations which incorporate evaporation into the model. We employ a finite volumes scheme to construct approximations of the weak solution and illustrate how the evaporation process can affect the shape and connectivity of the evolving-in-time morphologies.

math.AP↗

arXiv2023

Effective medium theory for second-gradient elasticity with chirality

We derive effective, parsimonious models from a heterogeneous second-gradient nonlinear elastic material taking into account chiral scale-size effects. Our classification of the effective equations depends on the hierarchy of four characteristic lengths: The size of the heterogeneities $\ell$, the intrinsic lengths of the constituents $\ell_{\rm SG}$ and $\ell_{\rm chiral}$, and the overall characteristic length of the domain ${\rm L}$. Depending on the different scale interactions between $\ell_{\rm SG}$, $\ell_{\rm chiral}$, $\ell$, and ${\rm L}$ we obtain either an effective Cauchy continuum or an effective second-gradient continuum. The working technique combines scaling arguments with the periodic homogenization asymptotic procedure. Both the passage to the homogenization limit and the unveiling of the correctors' structure rely on a suitable use of the periodic unfolding and related operators.

math.AP↗

arXiv2023

Homogenization of a reaction-diffusion problem with large nonlinear drift and Robin boundary data

We study the periodic homogenization of a reaction-diffusion problem with large nonlinear drift and Robin boundary condition posed in an unbounded perforated domain. The nonlinear problem is associated with the hydrodynamic limit of a totally asymmetric simple exclusion process (TASEP) governing a population of interacting particles crossing a domain with obstacle. We are interested in deriving rigorously the upscaled model equations and the corresponding effective coefficients for the case when the microscopic dynamics are linked to a particular choice of characteristic length and time scales that lead to an exploding nonlinear drift. The main mathematical difficulty lies in proving the two-scale compactness and strong convergence results needed for the passage to the homogenization limit. To cope with the situation, we use the concept of two-scale compactness with drift, which is similar to the more classical two-scale compactness result but it is defined now in moving coordinates. We provide as well a strong convergence result for the corrector function, starting this way the search for the order of the convergence rate of the homogenization process for our target nonlinear drift problem.

math.AP↗

arXiv2023

Numerical explorations of solvent borne adhesives: A lattice-based approach to morphology formation

The internal structure of adhesive tapes determines the effective mechanical properties. This holds true especially for blended systems, here consisting of acrylate and rubber phases. In this note, we propose a lattice-based model to study numerically the formation of internal morphologies within a four-component mixture (of discrete particles) where the solvent components evaporate. Mimicking numerically the interaction between rubber, acrylate, and two different types of solvents, relevant for the technology of adhesive tapes, we aim to obtain realistic distributions of rubber ball-shaped morphologies -- they play a key role in the overall functionality of those special adhesives. Our model incorporates the evaporation of both solvents and allows for tuning the strength of two essentially different solvent-solute interactions and of the temperature of the system.

cond-mat.soft↗

arXiv2023

Random walks and moving boundaries: Estimating the penetration of diffusants into dense rubbers

For certain materials science scenarios arising in rubber technology, one-dimensional moving boundary problems (MBPs) with kinetic boundary conditions are capable of unveiling the large-time behavior of the diffusants penetration front, giving a direct estimate on the service life of the material. In this paper, we propose a random walk algorithm able to lead to good numerical approximations of both the concentration profile and the location of the sharp front. Essentially, the proposed scheme decouples the target evolution system in two steps: (i) the ordinary differential equation corresponding to the evaluation of the speed of the moving boundary is solved via an explicit Euler method, and (ii) the associated diffusion problem is solved by a random walk method. To verify the correctness of our random walk algorithm we compare the resulting approximations to results based on a finite element approach with a controlled convergence rate. Our numerical experiments recover well penetration depth measurements of an experimental setup targeting dense rubbers.

math.NA↗

arXiv2022

A Continuum Model for Morphology Formation from Interacting Ternary Mixtures: Simulation Study of the Formation and Growth of Patterns

Our interest lies in exploring the ability of a coupled nonlocal system of two quasilinear parabolic partial differential equations to produce phase separation patterns. The obtained patterns are referred here as morphologies. Our target system is derived in the literature as the rigorous hydrodynamic limit of a suitably scaled interacting particle system of Blume--Capel--type driven by Kawasaki dynamics. The system describes in a rather implicit way the interaction within a ternary mixture that is the macroscopic counterpart of a mix of two populations of interacting solutes in the presence of a background solvent. Our discussion is based on the qualitative behavior of numerical simulations of finite volume approximations of smooth solutions to our system and their quantitative postprocessing in terms of two indicators (correlation and structure factor calculations). Our results show many similar features compared to what one knows at the level of the stochastic Blume--Capel dynamics with three interacting species. The properties of the obtained morphologies (shape, connectivity, and so on) can play a key role in, e.g., the design of the active layer for efficient organic solar cells.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗

arXiv2022

A reduction scheme for coupled Brownian harmonic oscillators

We propose a reduction scheme for a system constituted by two coupled harmonically-bound Brownian oscillators. We reduce the description by constructing a lower dimensional model which inherits some of the basic features of the original dynamics and is written in terms of suitable transport coefficients. The proposed procedure is twofold: while the deterministic component of the dynamics is obtained by a direct application of the invariant manifold method, the diffusion terms are determined via the Fluctuation-Dissipation Theorem. We highlight the behavior of the coefficients up to a critical value of the coupling parameter, which marks the endpoint of the interval in which a contracted description is available. The study of the weak coupling regime is addressed and the commutativity of alternative reduction paths is also discussed.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗

arXiv2022

Multiscale carbonation reactions: Status of things and two modeling exercises related to cultural heritage

Having in mind as target audience beginner researchers working in the field of cultural heritage, we present succinctly the concept of two-scale modeling of reaction-diffusion problems as it fits to scenarios where the action of the carbonation reaction is relevant. We briefly review well-known contributions concerning multiscale concrete carbonation processes, and finally, we point out two related multiscale modeling exercises. The scope of these notes is twofold: Promoting the language of multiscale modeling, we invite the applied mathematician to pick some of the target problems from the context of cultural heritage. On the other hand, we invite the experimentalist to talk to the applied mathematician whenever the laboratory experiments are unable to answer questions for instance about the long time behavior of materials exposed to the ingress of various chemical species, humidity, and/or temperature (as it is the case of historical monuments and buildings in urban areas) because modeling and simulation approaches might provide at least provisory hints on what could happen further once measurements stop, or when the situation of interest takes place actually outside the laboratory.

physics.soc-ph↗

arXiv2022

Coupled stochastic systems of Skorokhod type: well-posedness of a mathematical model and its applications

Population dynamics with complex biological interactions, accounting for uncertainty quantification, is critical for many application areas. However, due to the complexity of biological systems, the mathematical formulation of the corresponding problems faces the challenge that the corresponding stochastic processes should, in most cases, be considered in bounded domains. We propose a model based on a coupled system of reflecting Skorokhod-type stochastic differential equations with jump-like exit from a boundary. The setting describes the population dynamics of active and passive populations. As main working techniques, we use compactness methods and Skorokhod's representation of solutions to SDEs posed in bounded domains to prove the well-posedness of the system. This functional setting is a new point of view in the field of modelling and simulation of population dynamics. We provide the details of the model, as well as representative numerical examples, and discuss the applications of a Wilson-Cowan-type system, modelling the dynamics of two interacting populations of excitatory and inhibitory neurons. Furthermore, the presence of random input current, reflecting factors together with Poisson jumps, increases firing activity in neuronal systems.

math.DS↗

arXiv2022

Reduced Markovian Descriptions of Brownian Dynamics: Toward an Exact Theory

We outline a reduction scheme for a class of Brownian dynamics which leads to meaningful corrections to the Smoluchowski equation in the overdamped regime. The mobility coefficient of the reduced dynamics is obtained by exploiting the Dynamic Invariance principle, whereas the diffusion coefficient fulfils the Fluctuation-Dissipation theorem. Explicit calculations are carried out in the case of a harmonically bound particle. A quantitative pointwise representation of the reduction error is also provided and connections to both the Maximum Entropy method and the linear response theory are highlighted. Our study paves the way to the development of reduction procedures applicable to a wider class of diffusion processes.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗

arXiv2022

Upscaling of a reaction-diffusion-convection problem with exploding non-linear drift

We study a reaction-diffusion-convection problem with nonlinear drift posed in a domain with periodically arranged obstacles. The non-linearity in the drift is linked to the hydrodynamic limit of a totally asymmetric simple exclusion process (TASEP) governing a population of interacting particles crossing a domain with obstacle. Because of the imposed large drift scaling, this nonlinearity is expected to explode in the limit of a vanishing scaling parameter. As main working techniques, we employ two-scale formal homogenization asymptotics with drift to derive the corresponding upscaled model equations as well as the structure of the effective transport tensors. Finally, we use Schauder's fixed point theorem as well as monotonicity arguments to study the weak solvability of the upscaled model posed in an unbounded domain. This study wants to contribute with theoretical understanding needed when designing thin composite materials that are resistant to high velocity impacts.

math.AP↗

arXiv2022

Analysis of a fully discrete approximation to a moving-boundary problem describing rubber exposed to diffusants

We present a fully discrete scheme for the numerical approximation of a moving-boundary problem describing diffusants penetration into rubber. Our scheme utilizes the Galerkin finite element method for the space discretization combined with the backward Euler method for the time discretization. Besides dealing with the existence and uniqueness of solution to the fully discrete problem, we derive a \textit{a priori} error estimate for the mass concentration of the diffusants, and respectively, for the position of the moving boundary. Numerical illustrations verify the obtained theoretical order of convergence in physical parameter regimes.

math.NA↗

arXiv2022

Identifying Processes Governing Damage Evolution in Quasi-Static Elasticity Part I -- Analysis

We present a quasi-static elasticity model that accounts for damage evolution based on the ideas of Kachanov 1958 and and Rabotnov 1968. We analyze the resulting strongly nonlinear system of differential equations in view of well-posedness. The specific feature is that the displacements are connected to the damage evolution equation via a Nemytskii- or superposition- operator. The novelty in this work is that we present an inverse problem in a parameter identification setting, in which we are able to identify the shape of this Nemytskii-operator. From the material modelling point of view, the relation of material damage and displacements is modelled by the shape of this operator. We establish the Fréchet-derivative of the forward operator as well as the adjoint of the derivative and characterize both via systems of linear differential equations. We prove ill-posedness of the inverse problem and provide a sufficient condition for the classical nonlinear Landweber method to converge.

math.AP↗

arXiv2022

Identifying Processes Governing Damage Evolution in Quasi-Static Elasticity. Part 2 -- Numerical Simulations

We investigate numerically a quasi-static elasticity system of Kachanov-type. To do so we propose an Euler time discretization combined with a suitable finite elements scheme (FEM) to handle the discretization is space. We use ODE-type arguments to prove the consistency of the scheme as well as its convergence rate. We rely on the computational platform FEniCS to perform the FEM discretizations in space needed to compute the model output. The simulation results show a good agreement with both the physics of the problem and with our previous qualitative mathematical analysis results obtained for precisely the same problem setting. Furthermore, our implementation recovers nicely the theoretically expected convergence rate. This is a preliminary study preparing the framework for the rigorous numerical identification of the damage process in Kachanov-type models.

math.NA↗

arXiv2022

Error estimates for semi-discrete finite element approximations for a moving boundary problem capturing the penetration of diffusants into rubber

We consider a moving boundary problem with kinetic condition that describes the diffusion of solvent into rubber and study semi-discrete finite element approximations of the corresponding weak solutions. We report on both a priori and a posteriori error estimates for the mass concentration of the diffusants, and respectively, for the a priori unknown position of the moving boundary. Our working techniques include integral and energy-based estimates for a nonlinear parabolic problem posed in a transformed fixed domain combined with a suitable use of the interpolation-trace inequality to handle the interface terms. Numerical illustrations of our FEM approximations are within the experimental range and show good agreement with our theoretical investigation. This work is a preliminary investigation necessary before extending the current moving boundary modeling to account explicitly for the mechanics of hyperelastic rods to capture a directional swelling of the underlying elastomer.

math.NA↗

arXiv2022

Local existence of a solution to a free boundary problem describing migration into rubber with a breaking effect

We consider a one-dimensional free boundary problem describing the migration of diffusants into rubber. In our setting, the free boundary represents the position of the front delimitating the diffusant region. The growth rate of this region is described by an ordinary differential equation that includes the effect of breaking the growth of the diffusant region. In this specific context, the breaking mechanism is assumed to be the hyperelastic response to a too fast diffusion penetration. In recent works, we considered a similar class of free boundary problems modeling diffusants penetration in rubbers, but without attempting to deal with the possibility of breaking or accelerating the occurring free boundaries. For simplified settings, we were able to show the global existence and uniqueness as well as the large-time behavior of the corresponding solutions to our formulations. Since here the breaking effect is contained in the free boundary condition, our previous results are not anymore applicable. The main mathematical obstacle in ensuring the existence of a solution is the non-monotonic structure of the free boundary. In this paper, we establish the existence and uniqueness of a weak solution to the free boundary problem with breaking effect and give explicitly the maximum value that the free boundary can reach.

math.AP↗

arXiv2021

Scaling effects on the periodic homogenization of a reaction-diffusion-convection problem posed in homogeneous domains connected by a thin composite layer

We study the question of periodic homogenization of a variably scaled reaction-diffusion problem with non-linear drift posed for a domain crossed by a flat composite thin layer. The structure of the non-linearity in the drift was obtained in earlier works as hydrodynamic limit of a totally asymmetric simple exclusion process (TASEP) process for a population of interacting particles crossing a domain with obstacle. Using energy-type estimates as well as concepts like thin-layer convergence and two-scale convergence, we derive the homogenized evolution equation and the corresponding effective model parameters for a regularized problem. Special attention is paid to the derivation of the effective transmission conditions across the separating limit interface in essentially two different situations: (i) finitely thin layer and (ii) infinitely thin layer. This study should be seen as a preliminary step needed for the investigation of averaging fast non-linear drifts across material interfaces -- a topic with direct applications in the design of thin composite materials meant to be impenetrable to high-velocity impacts.

math.AP↗