A Hele-Shaw-Cahn-Hilliard model for incompressible two-phase flows with different densities

Topology changes in multi-phase fluid flows are difficult to model within a traditional sharp interface theory. Diffuse interface models turn out to be an attractive alternative to model two-phase flows. Based on a Cahn–Hilliard–Navier–Stokes model introduced by Abels, Garcke and Grün (Math. Models Methods Appl. Sci. 2012), which uses a volume averaged velocity, we derive a diffuse interface model in a Hele– Shaw geometry, which in the case of non-matched densities, simplifies an earlier model of Lee, Lowengrub and Goodman (Phys. Fluids 2002). We recover the classical Hele– Shaw model as a sharp interface limit of the diffuse interface model. Furthermore, we show the existence of weak solutions and present several numerical computations including situations with rising bubbles and fingering instabilities.