Gradient Flows for Coupling Order Parameters and Mechanics

We construct a formal gradient flow structure for phase-field evolution coupled to mechanics in Lagrangian coordinates, present common ways to couple the evolution, and provide an incremental minimization strategy. While the usual presentation of continuum mechanics is intentionally brief, we construct an extensible functional analytical framework and a discretization approach that preserves the underlying variational structure. We consider phase separation and swelling of gels and then study stationary states of multiphase systems with surface tension and contact lines and show the robustness of the general approach for large deformations. We highlight differences between compressible and incompressible models and discuss issues of the sharp-interface limit for different magnitudes of the Cahn–Hilliard mobility.