We simulate 3D spinodal decomposition modeled by the Cahn-Hilliard equation. This equation has intricate nonlinear terms and high order derivatives. Moreover, the thin transition region between the components of the mix requires high resolution. Thus, the computation of the Cahn-Hilliard equation is not an easy task, specially in three dimensions. We get the required resolution in time using a semi-implicit second order discretization scheme. In space, we obtain high accuracy utilizing meshes locally refined with the AMR strategy. These meshes adapt dynamically to cover the transition region. The linear system obtained from the discretization is solved by multilevel- multigrid techniques.
Biharmonic equation; adaptive mesh refinements; semi-implicit methods; phase-field models; multi-level multigrid
