A convergent finite volume scheme for dissipation driven models with volume filling constraint (Q2143158)

The authors first establish an implicit finite volume scheme for a general model which describes the evolution of the composition of a multi-component mixture in a bounded domain. Under the assumption that the whole domain is occupied by the different phases of the mixture, the model leads to a volume filling constraint. In the continuous model this constraint yields the introduction of a pressure, which should be thought as a Lagrange multiplier for the volume filling constraint. The pressure solves an elliptic equation, to be coupled with parabolic equations, possibly including cross-diffusion terms, which govern the evolution of the mixture composition. The system admits an entropy structure which is at the cornerstone of our analysis. A two-point flux approximation finite volume scheme is designed. The scheme preserves the main properties of the continuous model, namely the volume filling constraint and the control of the entropy production. Using these properties, and in particular the discrete entropy-entropy dissipation relation, the existence of solutions to the scheme and its convergence are proved. Some numerical tests are presented to show the efficiency of the method.