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A Time Splitting Space Spectral Element Method for the Cahn-Hilliard Equation

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 May 2015

Lizhen Chen  and
Chuanju Xu
Lizhen Chen*
Affiliation:
Beijing Computational Science Research Center, Beijing 100084, China
Chuanju Xu*
Affiliation:
School of Mathematical Sciences, Xiamen University, Xiamen 361005, China
*
Corresponding author. Email Address: [email protected]
Corresponding author. Email Address: [email protected]
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Abstract

We propose and analyse a class of fully discrete schemes for the Cahn-Hilliard equation with Neumann boundary conditions. The schemes combine large-time step splitting methods in time and spectral element methods in space. We are particularly interested in analysing a class of methods that split the original Cahn-Hilliard equation into lower order equations. These lower order equations are simpler and less computationally expensive to treat. For the first-order splitting scheme, the stability and convergence properties are investigated based on an energy method. It is proven that both semi-discrete and fully discrete solutions satisfy the energy dissipation and mass conservation properties hidden in the associated continuous problem. A rigorous error estimate, together with numerical confirmation, is provided. Although not yet rigorously proven, higher-order schemes are also constructed and tested by a series of numerical examples. Finally, the proposed schemes are applied to the phase field simulation in a complex domain, and some interesting simulation results are obtained.

Keywords

65M0665M1265N3065N3576A05Cahn-Hilliardtime splitting schemesspectral methodserror analysis
Type
Research Article
Information
East Asian Journal on Applied Mathematics , Volume 3 , Issue 4 , November 2013 , pp. 333 - 351
Copyright
Copyright © Global-Science Press 2013

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