Finite element approximation of a Stefan problem with degenerate Joule heating (Q5315474)

This paper is devoted to the study of the degenerate system \[ \frac{\partial}{\partial t}\rho (u)-\nabla\cdot (\alpha (u)\nabla u)\ni \sigma (u)| \nabla\phi| ^2,\;\;\nabla\cdot (\sigma (u)\nabla\phi)=0, \] subject to natural boundary and initial conditions. In the first part of the paper it is formulated a fully practical finite element approximation of this degenerate system. Next, it is argued the convergence of the finite element approximation in two and three dimensions. This analysis takes into account both the degeneracy in \(\sigma (u)\) and the quadratic nature of the Joule heating term forcing the Stefan problem. In the last part of the paper the authors provide some numerical experiments in two space dimensions.