Linear relaxation schemes with asymptotically compatible energy law for time-fractional phase-field models

TY - JOUR

T1 - Linear relaxation schemes with asymptotically compatible energy law for time-fractional phase-field models

AU - Yu, Hui

AU - Wang, Zhaoyang

AU - Lin, Ping

N1 - Publisher Copyright: © 2026 Elsevier Ltd.

PY - 2026/1/16

Y1 - 2026/1/16

N2 - In this paper, we propose a variable time-step linear relaxation scheme for time-fractional phase-field equations with a free energy density in general polynomial form. The L1+-CN formula is used to discretize the fractional derivative, and an auxiliary variable is introduced to approximate the nonlinear term by directly solving algebraic equations rather than differential-algebraic equations as in the invariant energy quadratization (IEQ) and the scalar auxiliary variable (SAV) approaches. The developed semi-discrete scheme is second-order accurate in time, and the inconsistency between the auxiliary and the original variables does not deteriorate over time. Furthermore, we take the time-fractional volume-conserved Allen-Cahn equation, the time-fractional Cahn-Hilliard equation, and the time-fractional Swift-Hohenberg equation as examples to demonstrate that the constructed schemes are energy stable and that the discrete energy dissipation law is asymptotically compatible with the classical one when the fractional-order parameter α→1−. Several numerical examples demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed scheme. In particular, numerical results confirm that the auxiliary variable remains well aligned with the original variable, and the error between them does not continue to increase over time before the system reaches steady state.

AB - In this paper, we propose a variable time-step linear relaxation scheme for time-fractional phase-field equations with a free energy density in general polynomial form. The L1+-CN formula is used to discretize the fractional derivative, and an auxiliary variable is introduced to approximate the nonlinear term by directly solving algebraic equations rather than differential-algebraic equations as in the invariant energy quadratization (IEQ) and the scalar auxiliary variable (SAV) approaches. The developed semi-discrete scheme is second-order accurate in time, and the inconsistency between the auxiliary and the original variables does not deteriorate over time. Furthermore, we take the time-fractional volume-conserved Allen-Cahn equation, the time-fractional Cahn-Hilliard equation, and the time-fractional Swift-Hohenberg equation as examples to demonstrate that the constructed schemes are energy stable and that the discrete energy dissipation law is asymptotically compatible with the classical one when the fractional-order parameter α→1−. Several numerical examples demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed scheme. In particular, numerical results confirm that the auxiliary variable remains well aligned with the original variable, and the error between them does not continue to increase over time before the system reaches steady state.

KW - Asymptotic preserving

KW - Linear relaxation scheme

KW - Stability

KW - Time-fractional phase-field models

UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/105027639872

U2 - 10.1016/j.camwa.2026.01.008

DO - 10.1016/j.camwa.2026.01.008

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:105027639872

SN - 1873-7668

VL - 206

SP - 192

EP - 211

JO - Computers and Mathematics with Applications

JF - Computers and Mathematics with Applications

ER -