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Now showing 1 - 10 of 12
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    Thin film models for an active gel
    (Berlin : Weierstraß-Institut für Angewandte Analysis und Stochastik, 2017) Kitavtsev, Georgy; Münch, Andreas; Wagner, Barbara
    In this study we present a free-boundary problem for an active liquid crystal based on the Beris-Edwards theory that uses a tensorial order parameter and includes active contributions to the stress tensor to analyse the rich defect structure observed in applications such as the Adenosinetriphosphate (ATP) driven motion of a thin film of an actin filament network. The small aspect ratio of the film geometry allows for an asymptotic approximation of the free-boundary problem in the limit of weak elasticity of the network and strong active terms. The new thin film model captures the defect dynamics in the bulk as well as wall defects and thus presents a significant extension of previous models based on the Leslie-Erickson-Parodi theory. Analytic expressions are derived that reveal the interplay of anchoring conditions, film thickness and active terms and their control of transitions of flow structure.
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    Surface induced phase separation of a swelling hydrogel
    (Berlin : Weierstraß-Institut für Angewandte Analysis und Stochastik, 2018) Hennessy, Matthew G.; Münch, Andreas; Wagner, Barbara
    We present a formulation of the free boundary problem for a hydrogel that accounts for the interfacial free energy and finite strain due to the large deformation of the polymer network during solvent transport across the free boundary. For the geometry of an initially dry layer fixed at a rigid substrate, our model predicts a phase transition when a critical value of the solvent concentration has been reached near the free boundary. A one-dimensional case study shows that depending on the flux rate at the free boundary an initial saturation front is followed by spinodal decomposition of the hydrogel and the formation of an interfacial front that moves through the layer. Moreover, increasing the shear modulus of the elastic network delays or even suppresses phase separation.
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    Structure formation in thin liquid-liquid films
    (Berlin : Weierstraß-Institut für Angewandte Analysis und Stochastik, 2017) Bommer, Stefan; Jachalski, Sebastian; Peschka, Dirk; Seemann, Ralf; Wagner, Barbara
    We revisit the problem of a liquid polymer that dewets from another liquid polymer substrate with the focus on the direct comparison of results from mathematical modeling, rigorous analysis, numerical simulation and experimental investigations of rupture, dewetting dynamics and equilibrium patterns of a thin liquid-liquid system. The experimental system uses as a model system a thin polystyrene (PS) / polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA) bilayer of a few hundred nm. The polymer systems allow for in situ observation of the dewetting process by atomic force microscopy (AFM) and for a precise ex situ imaging of the liquidliquid interface. In the present study, the molecular chain length of the used polymers is chosen such that the polymers can be considered as Newtonian liquids. However, by increasing the chain length, the rheological properties of the polymers can be also tuned to a viscoelastic flow behavior. The experimental results are compared with the predictions based on the thin film models. The system parameters like contact angle and surface tensions are determined from the experiments and used for a quantitative comparison. We obtain excellent agreement for transient drop shapes on their way towards equilibrium, as well as dewetting rim profiles and dewetting dynamics.
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    Liquid-liquid dewetting: Morphologies and rates
    (Berlin : Weierstraß-Institut für Angewandte Analysis und Stochastik, 2016) Bommer, Stefan; Seemann, Ralf; Jachalski, Sebastian; Peschka, Dirk; Wagner, Barbara
    The dependence of the dissipation on the local details of the flow field of a liquid polymer film dewetting from a liquid polymer substrate is shown, solving the free boundary problem for a two-layer liquid system. As a key result we show that the dewetting rates of such a liquid bi-layer system can not be described by a single power law but shows transient behaviour of the rates, changing from increasing to decreasing behaviour. The theoretical predictions on the evolution of morphology and rates of the free surfaces and free interfaces are compared to measurements of the evolution of the polystyrene(PS)-air, the polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA)-air and the PS-PMMA interfaces using in situ atomic force microscopy (AFM), and they show excellent agreement.
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    Impact of energy dissipation on interface shapes and on rates for dewetting from liquid substrates
    ([London] : Macmillan Publishers Limited, part of Springer Nature, 2018) Peschka, Dirk; Bommer, Stefan; Jachalski, Sebastian; Seemann, Ralf; Wagner, Barbara
    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. Specifically, we consider the dewetting of a liquid polystyrene layer from a liquid polymethyl methacrylate layer, where the thicknesses and the viscosities of both layers are similar. Using experimentally determined system parameters like viscosity and surface tension, an excellent agreement of experimentally and theoretically obtained rim profile shapes are obtained including the liquid-liquid interface and even dewetting rates. Our new energetic approach additionally 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. Using this approach, we explain why dewetting rates for liquid-liquid systems follow no universal power law, despite the fact that experimental velocities are almost constant. This is in contrast to dewetting scenarios on solid substrates and in contrast to previous results for liquid-liquid substrates using heuristic approaches.
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    Thin-film electrodes for high-capacity lithium-ion batteries: Influence of phase transformations on stress
    (Berlin : Weierstraß-Institut für Angewandte Analysis und Stochastik, 2016) Meca, Esteban; Münch, Andreas; Wagner, Barbara
    In this study we revisit experiments by Sethuraman et al. [J. Power Sources, 195, 5062 (2010)] on the stress evolution during the lithiation/delithiation cycle of a thin film of amorphous silicon. Based on recent work that show a two-phase process of lithiation of amorphous silicon, we formulate a phase-field model coupled to elasticity in the framework of Larché-Cahn. Using an adaptive nonlinear multigrid algorithm for the finite-volume discretization of this model, our two-dimensional numerical simulations show the formation of a sharp phase boundary between the lithiated and the amorphous silicon that continues to move as a front through the thin layer. We show that our model captures the nonmonotone stress loading curve and rate dependence, as observed in experiments and connects characteristic features of the curve with the stucture formation within the layer. We take advantage of the thin film geometry and study the corresponding one-dimensional model to establish the dependence on the material parameters and obtain a comprehensive picture of the behaviour of the system.
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    Anisotropic solid-liquid interface kinetics in silicon: An atomistically informed phase-field model
    (Berlin : Weierstraß-Institut für Angewandte Analysis und Stochastik, 2017) Bergmann, Sibylle; Barragan-Yani, Daniel A.; Flegel, Elke; Albe, Karsten; Wagner, Barbara
    We present an atomistically informed parametrization of a phase-field model for describing the anisotropic mobility of liquid-solid interfaces in silicon. The model is derived from a consistent set of atomistic data and thus allows to directly link molecular dynamics and phase field simulations. Expressions for the free energy density, the interfacial energy and the temperature and orientation dependent interface mobility are systematically fitted to data from molecular dynamics simulations based on the Stillinger-Weber interatomic potential. The temperature-dependent interface velocity follows a Vogel-Fulcher type behavior and allows to properly account for the dynamics in the undercooled melt.
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    Gradient structures for flows of concentrated suspensions
    (Berlin : Weierstraß-Institut für Angewandte Analysis und Stochastik, 2018) Peschka, Dirk; Thomas, Marita; Ahnert, Tobias; Münch, Andreas; Wagner, Barbara
    In this work we investigate a two-phase model for concentrated suspensions. We construct a PDE formulation using a gradient flow structure featuring dissipative coupling between fluid and solid phase as well as different driving forces. Our construction is based on the concept of flow maps that also allows it to account for flows in moving domains with free boundaries. The major difference compared to similar existing approaches is the incorporation of a non-smooth twohomogeneous term to the dissipation potential, which creates a normal pressure even for pure shear flows.
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    Localized instabilities and spinodal decomposition in driven systems in the presence of elasticity
    (Berlin : Weierstraß-Institut für Angewandte Analysis und Stochastik, 2017) Meca, Esteban; Münch, Andreas; Wagner, Barbara
    We study numerically and analytically the instabilities associated with phase separation in a solid layer on which an external material flux is imposed. The first instability is localized within a boundary layer at the exposed free surface by a process akin to spinodal decomposition. In the limiting static case, when there is no material flux, the coherent spinodal decomposition is recovered. In the present problem stability analysis of the time-dependent and non-uniform base states as well as numerical simulations of the full governing equations are used to establish the dependence of the wavelength and onset of the instability on parameter settings and its transient nature as the patterns eventually coarsen into a flat moving front. The second instability is related to the Mullins-Sekerka instability in the presence of elasticity and arises at the moving front between the two phases when the flux is reversed. Stability analyses of the full model and the corresponding sharp-interface model are carried out and compared. Our results demonstrate how interface and bulk instabilities can be analysed within the same framework which allows to identify and distinguish each of them clearly. The relevance for a detailed understanding of both instabilities and their interconnections in a realistic setting are demonstrated for a system of equations modelling the lithiation/delithiation processes within the context of Lithium ion batteries.
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    Signatures of slip in dewetting polymer films
    (Berlin : Weierstraß-Institut für Angewandte Analysis und Stochastik, 2018) Peschka, Dirk; Haefner, Sabrina; Jacobs, Karin; Münch, Andreas; Wagner, Barbara
    Thin liquid polymer films on hydrophobic substrates are susceptable to rupture and formation of holes, which in turn initiate a complex dewetting process that eventually evolves into characteristic stationary droplet patterns. Experimental and theoretical studies suggest that the specific type of droplet pattern largely depends on the nature of the polymer-substrate boundary condition. To follow the morphological evolution numerically over long time scales and for the multiple length scales involved has so far been a major challenge. In this study a highly adaptive finite-element based numerical scheme is presented that allows for large-scale simulations to follow the evolution of the dewetting process deep into the nonlinear regime of the model equations, capturing the complex dynamics including shedding of droplets. In addition, the numerical results predict the previouly unknown shedding of satellite droplets during the destabilisation of liquid ridges, that form during the late stages of the dewetting process. While the formation of satellite droplets is well-known in the context of elongating fluid filaments and jets, we show here that for dewetting liquid ridges this property can be dramatically altered by the interfacial condition between polymer and substrate, namely slip.