Speaker: James Warren, NIST
Title: Phase field modeling of wetting, nucleation and more

Abstract: Wetting remains one of the crucial areas of study in materials science, as it provides a direct measurement of the influence of surface energy on the properties and performance of materials. Indeed, the addition of hydrodynamics to diffuse interface models of phase transformations has now been well studied in some relatively simple systems. However, properly coupling such flows to a description of an elastic solid remains an area where the models need substantial improvements. After reviewing some of the basics, we will explore the fascinating problem of reactive wetting, where a droplet disolves the substrate upon which it spreads. Describing this system mathematically, for realistic materials (such as Sn-Bi) in a manner that admits numerical solutio cales is the focus of this work.

Time: Friday, Sept. 26, 2008, 1:30-2:30 p.m.

Place: Science and Tech I, Room 242

Department of Mathematical Sciences
George Mason University
4400 University Drive, MS 3F2
Fairfax, VA 22030-4444
http://math.gmu.edu/
Tel. 703-993-1460, Fax. 703-993-1491