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Dirk Peschka

Publications and source records attributed to Dirk Peschka.

14 recordsLinked to original sources
arXiv2026

Discretisation of Eulerian nonlinear elasticity and diffusion using gradient flows

In this study, we introduce a general energy-based modelling approach for viscous poroelastic materials that feature diffusive transport in both Lagrangian and Eulerian frames. Our research produces refined weak formulations by using the reference map concept within the Eulerian configuration. We propose and implement a novel structure-preserving discretisation strategy, utilising mixed finite element methods. This paper highlights the spatial and temporal numerical convergence of our methods through a comparative analysis of Lagrangian and Eulerian schemes, thereby proving the robustness and usability of our approach. Furthermore, in the context of Eulerian multiphase flow, specifically of the quasi-static Euler-Euler type, our study demonstrates the existence of solitary fluid waves within poroviscoelastic media. This energy-based approach forms a basis for a deeper understanding of thermodynamical modelling and corresponding discretisation schemes for coupled poroelasticity, flow, and diffusion.

math.NA↗
arXiv2026

Combined effects of evaporation, sedimentation and solute crystallization on the dynamics of aerosol size distributions on multiple length and time scales

We investigate three aspects of aerosol-mediated air-borne viral infection mechanisms on different length and time scales. First, we address the evolution of the size distribution of a non-interacting ensemble of droplets that are subject to evaporation and sedimentation using a sharp droplet-air interface model. From the exact solution of the evolution equation we derive the viral load in the air and show that it depends sensitively on the relative humidity. Secondly, from Molecular Dynamics simulations we extract the molecular reflection coefficient of single water molecules from the air-water interface. This parameter determines the water condensation and evaporation rate at a liquid droplet surface and therefore the evaporation rate of aqueous droplets. We find the reflection of water to be negligible at room temperature but to rise significantly at elevated temperatures and for grazing incidence angles. Thirdly, we derive a thermodynamically consistent three-dimensional diffuse-interface model for solute-containing droplets that is formulated as a three-phase Cahn-Hilliard/Allen-Cahn system. By numerically solving the coupled system of equations, we explore representative scenarios that show that this model reproduces and generalizes features of the sharp-interface model. These interconnected studies on the dynamics of aerosol droplet evaporation are relevant in order to quantitatively assess the airborne infection risk under varying environmental conditions.

physics.flu-dyn↗
arXiv2024

Shape of Polystyrene Droplets on Soft PDMS: Exploring the Gap Between Theory and Experiment at the Three-Phase Contact Line

The shapes of liquid polystyrene (PS) droplets on viscoelastic polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) substrates are investigated experimentally using atomic force microscopy for a range of droplet sizes and substrate elasticities. These shapes, which comprise the PS-air, PS-PDMS, and PDMS-air interfaces as well as the three-phase contact line, are compared to theoretical predictions using axisymmetric sharp-interface models derived through energy minimization. We find that the polystyrene droplets are cloaked by a thin layer of uncrosslinked molecules migrating from the PDMS substrate. By incorporating the effects of cloaking into the surface energies in our theoretical model, we show that the global features of the experimental droplet shapes are in excellent quantitative agreement for all droplet sizes and substrate elasticities. However, our comparisons also reveal systematic discrepancies between the experimental results and the theoretical predictions in the vicinity of the three-phase contact line. Moreover, the relative importance of these discrepancies systematically increases for softer substrates and smaller droplets. We demonstrate that global variations in system parameters, such as surface tension and elastic shear moduli, cannot explain these differences but instead point to a locally larger elastocapillary length, whose possible origin is discussed thoroughly.

cond-mat.soft↗
arXiv2024

Local well-posedness and global stability of one-dimensional shallow water equations with surface tension and constant contact angle

We consider the one-dimensional shallow water problem with capillary surfaces and moving contact {lines}. An energy-based model is derived from the two-dimensional water wave equations, where we explicitly discuss the case of a stationary force balance at a moving contact line and highlight necessary changes to consider dynamic contact angles. The moving contact line becomes our free boundary at the level of shallow water equations, and the depth of the shallow water degenerates near the free boundary, which causes singularities for the derivatives and degeneracy for the viscosity. This is similar to the physical vacuum of compressible flows in the literature. The equilibrium, the global stability of the equilibrium, and the local well-posedness theory are established in this paper.

math.AP↗
arXiv2023

Droplet motion with contact-line friction: long-time asymptotics in complete wetting

We consider the thin-film equation for a class of free boundary conditions modelling friction at the contact line, as introduced by E and Ren. Our analysis focuses on formal long-time asymptotics of solutions in the perfect wetting regime. In particular, through the analysis of quasi-self-similar solutions, we characterize the profile and the spreading rate of solutions depending on the strength of friction at the contact line, as well as their (global or local) corrections, which are due to the dynamical nature of the free boundary conditions. These results are complemented with full transient numerical solutions of the free boundary problem.

math.AP↗
arXiv2023

Sharp-interface limits of Cahn-Hilliard models and mechanics with moving contact lines

We construct gradient structures for free boundary problems with nonlinear elasticity and study the impact of moving contact lines. In this context, we numerically analyze how phase-field models converge to certain sharp-interface limits when the interface thickness tends to zero $\varepsilon\to 0$. In particular, we study the scaling of the Cahn-Hilliard mobility $m(\varepsilon)=m_0\varepsilon^\alpha$ for $0\le \alpha \le \infty$. In the presence of interfaces, it is known that the intended sharp-interface limit is only valid for $\underline{\alpha}<\alpha<\overline{\alpha}$. However, in the presence of moving contact lines we show that $\alpha$ near $\underline{\alpha}$ produces significant errors.

math.AP↗
arXiv2022

Resolving the microscopic hydrodynamics at the moving contact line

The molecular structure of moving contact lines (MCLs) and the emergence of a corresponding macroscopic dissipation have made the MCL a paradigm of fluid dynamics. Through novel averaging techniques that remove capillary waves smearing we achieve an unprecedented resolution in molecular dynamics (MD) simulations and find that they match with the continuum description obtained by finite element method (FEM) down to molecular scales. This allows us to distinguish dissipation at the liquid-solid interface (Navier-slip) and at the contact line, the latter being negligible for the rather smooth substrate considered.

cond-mat.soft↗
arXiv2022

Model hierarchies and higher-order discretisation of time-dependent thin-film free boundary problems with dynamic contact angle

We present a mathematical and numerical framework for thin-film fluid flows over planar surfaces including dynamic contact angles. In particular, we provide algorithmic details and an implementation of higher-order spatial and temporal discretisation of the underlying free boundary problem using the finite element method. The corresponding partial differential equation is based on a thermodynamically consistent energetic variational formulation of the problem using free energy and viscous dissipation in the bulk, on the surface, and at the moving contact line. Model hierarchies for limits of strong and weak contact line dissipation are established, implemented and studied. We analyze the performance of the numerical algorithm and investigate the impact of the dynamic contact angle on the evolution of two benchmark problems: gravity-driven sliding droplets and the instability of a ridge.

math.NA↗
arXiv2018

Variational approach to contact line dynamics for thin films

This paper investigates a variational approach to viscous flows with contact line dynamics based on energy-dissipation modeling. The corresponding model is reduced to a thin-film equation and its variational structure is also constructed and discussed. Feasibility of this modeling approach is shown by constructing a numerical scheme in 1D and by computing numerical solutions for the problem of gravity driven droplets. Some implications of the contact line model are highlighted in this setting.

physics.flu-dyn↗
arXiv2017

Impact of energy dissipation on interface shapes and on rates for dewetting from liquid substrates

We revisit the fundamental problem of liquid-liquid dewetting and perform a detailed comparison of theoretical predictions based on thin-film models with experimental measurements obtained by atomic force microscopy (AFM). Specifically, we consider the dewetting of a liquid polystyrene (PS) layer from a liquid polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) layer, where the thicknesses and the viscosities of PS and PMMA layers are similar. The excellent agreement of experiment and theory reveals that dewetting rates for such systems follow no universal power law, in contrast to dewetting scenarios on solid substrates. Our new energetic approach allows to assess the physical importance of different contributions to the energy-dissipation mechanism, for which we analyze the local flow fields and the local dissipation rates.

physics.flu-dyn↗
arXiv2012

Droplets on liquids and their long way into equilibrium

The morphological paths towards equilibrium droplets during the late stages of the dewetting process of a liquid film from a liquid substrate is investigated experimentally and theoretically. As liquids, short chained polystyrene (PS) and polymethyl-methacrylate (PMMA) are used, which can be considered as Newontian liquids well above their glass transition temperatures. Careful imaging of the PS/air interface of the droplets during equilibration by \emph{in situ} scanning force microscopy and the PS/PMMA interface after removal of the PS droplets reveal a surprisingly deep penetration of the PS droplets into the PMMA layer. Droplets of sufficiently small volumes develop the typical lens shape and were used to extract the ratio of the PS/air and PS/PMMA surface tensions and the contact angles by comparison to theoretical exact equilibrium solutions of the liquid/liquid system. Using these results in our dynamical thin-film model we find that before the droplets reach their equilibrium they undergo several intermediate stages each with a well-defined signature in shape. Moreover, the intermediate droplet shapes are independent of the details of the initial configuration, while the time scale they are reached depend strongly on the droplet volume. This is shown by the numerical solutions of the thin-film model and demonstrated by quantitative comparison to experimental results.

cond-mat.soft↗
arXiv2012

Stationary solutions of liquid two-layer thin film models

We investigate stationary solutions of a thin-film model for liquid two-layer flows in an energetic formulation that is motivated by its gradient flow structure. The goal is to achieve a rigorous understanding of the contact-angle conditions for such two-layer systems. We pursue this by investigating a corresponding energy that favors the upper liquid to dewet from the lower liquid substrate, leaving behind a layer of thickness $h_*$. After proving existence of stationary solutions for the resulting system of thin-film equations we focus on the limit $h_*\to 0$ via matched asymptotic analysis. This yields a corresponding sharp-interface model and a matched asymptotic solution that includes logarithmic switch-back terms. We compare this with results obtained using $Γ$-convergence, where we establish existence and uniqueness of energetic minimizers in that limit.

math.AP↗
arXiv2003

Searching for KvBLL calorons in SU(3) lattice gauge field ensembles

We discuss Kraan - van Baal - Lee - Lu (KvBLL) solutions of the classical Yang-Mills equations with temperature in the context of SU(3) lattice gauge theory. We present discretized lattice versions of KvBLL solutions and other dyonic structures, obtained by cooling in order to understand their variety and signature. An analysis of the zero modes of the lattice Dirac operator for different fermionic boundary conditions gives clear evidence for a KvBLL-like background of finite T lattice subensembles with Q = +/-1. Using APE-smearing we are able to study the topological charge density q(x) of the configurations and to corroborate this interpretation.

hep-lat↗