Global solution of a free boundary problem in heat and mass transfer for polymeric materials (Q1338021)

We deal with a free boundary problem arising in heat and mass transfer accompanied by phase transitions in polymeric materials. The problem is to find a triplet \((u, U, s)\) satisfying the following equations \[ u_{xx}- u_ t= 0, \quad 0<x< s(t), \qquad \gamma U_{xx}- U_ t= 0, \quad s(t)< x<1, \] \[ u(x,0)= h(x), \quad 0<x< s(0), \qquad U(x,0)= H(x), \quad s(0)< x<1 \] subject to the conditions \(u(0,t)= f(t)\), \( U_ x(1,t)= 0\), \[ -u_ x (s(t), t)+ \beta U_ x (s(t), t)= \{\alpha+ u(s(t), t)- \beta\gamma^{-1} U(s(t), t)\} s'(t), \] \[ s'(t)= \theta^{- 1} | u(s(t), t)|^ n, \qquad U(s(t), t)= u(s(t), t). \] In the present paper, we are concerned with a local existence result and sufficient conditions for the existence of a global solution. Moreover, a sufficient condition for disappearance of phase in finite time will be given. For the solution, we use the method of integral equations for the local existence result, variational methods and a maximum principle for the global result.