Front instability and pattern dynamics in the phase-field model for crystal growth (Q2571422)

The paper presents results of systematic simulations of a system of coupled two-dimensional PDEs of a parabolic type namely, a nonlinear equation for a real order parameter modeling a crystallization phase transition, and a linear diffusion equation for temperature (that takes into regard the heat release in the phase transition). The former equation is of an anisotropic diffusion type. Dynamics of the model is controlled by a parameter \(\Delta\) which has the meaning of undercooling in the crystallization model. In a region of \(1<\Delta <\Delta_{\text{cr}}\), the solution describing the propagation of a flat crystallization front is unstable. Simulations reveal the appearance of a spatio-temporal chaos (of a finite amplitude) or formation of nearly stationary two-dimensional patterns. In special cases, the latter can be described, in one-dimensional directions, by a modified Kuramoto-Sivashinsky equation. In the case of \(\Delta < 1\), a solution for a uniformly propagating flat front is absent, and the front actually advances with a velocity decaying as \(t^{-1/2}\). In that case, the front eventually becomes stable against eigenmodes of corrugating perturbations, but they grow for a finite (in fact, prolonged) time before getting stable, which makes the flat front actually unstable in this case as well, developing a pattern in the form of a set of dendrites.