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

Abstract

We construct gradient structures for free boundary problems with moving capillary interfaces with nonlinear (hyper)elasticity and study the impact of moving contact lines. In this context, we numerically analyze how phase-field models converge to certain sharp-interface models when the interface thickness tends to zero. In particular, we study the scaling of the Cahn--Hilliard mobility with certain powers of the interfacial thickness. In the presence of interfaces, it is known that the intended sharp-interface limit holds only for a particular range of powers However, in the presence of moving contact lines we show that some scalings that are valid for interfaces produce significant errors and the effective range of valid powers of the interfacial thickness in the mobility reduces.