A free-boundary problem with moving contact points

Keywords

SC4I/Digitization, Innovation, and Competitiveness of the Production System
Code:
33/2017
Title:
A free-boundary problem with moving contact points
Date:
Monday 3rd July 2017
Author(s):
Fumagalli, I.
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Abstract:
This paper concerns the theoretical and numerical analysis of a free boundary problem for the Laplace equation, with a curvature condition on the free boundary. This boundary is described as the graph of a function, and contact angles are imposed at the moving contact points. The equations are set in the framework of classical Sobolev Banach spaces, and existence and uniqueness of the solution are proved via a fixed-point iteration, exploiting a suitably defined lifting operator from the free boundary. The free-boundary function and the bulk solution are approximated by piecewise linear finite elements, and the well-posedness and convergence of the discrete problem are proved. This proof hinges upon a stability result for the Riesz projection onto the discrete space, which is separately proven and has an interest per se.