A tridimensional phase-field model with convection for phase change of an alloy (Q2568581)

The authors here extend to the 3D case a study they published for the 2D case in [J. Math. Anal. Appl. 303, No. 2, 669--687 (2005; Zbl 1067.35157)]. Indeed the authors here consider a phase-field model for a solidification/melting non stationary process. Three zones are considered: a fully solid one, a fully liquid one and an intermediate mushy one. The model consists of a system coupling four parabolic equations, which describe the evolution of the phase field, of the temperature, of the concentration of one of the two materials and of the velocity field. This last equation is Navier-Stokes equation modified by the addition of a Carman-Kozeny type term. This system is posed in \(Q=\Omega \times (0,T)\) where \(\Omega \) is a smooth and bounded domain of \(\mathbb{R}^{3}\), or in subregions of \(Q\) , corresponding to the above indicated zones. Homogeneous boundary conditions, essentially of Neumann type, are imposed on the boundary for these four quantities, which start from initial data at \(t=0\). The goal of the paper is to prove the existence of weak solutions for this model with convection. The idea of the proof consists in constructing a regularized version of the initial problem. The authors first prove the existence of a solution for the regularized problem by using the Leray-Schauder fixed point theorem. Then they pass to the limit when the auxiliary parameter goes to 0 using compactness arguments. The authors thus apply in the present context tools which have already been developped by other authors for the study of nonlinear evolution problems.