Application of Onsager's variational principle to the dynamics of a solid toroidal island on a substrate

In this paper, we consider the capillarity-driven evolution of a solid toroidal island on a flat rigid substrate, where mass transport is controlled by surface diffusion. This problem is representative of the geometrical complexity associated with the solid-state dewetting of thin films on substrates. We apply Onsager's variational principle to develop a general approach for describing surface diffusion-controlled problems. Based on this approach, we derive a simple, reduced-order model and obtain an analytical expression for the rate of island shrinking and validate this prediction by numerical simulations based on a full, sharp-interface model. We find that the rate of island shrinking is proportional to the material constants $B$ and the surface energy density $γ_0$, and is inversely proportional to the island volume $V_0$. This approach represents a general tool for modeling interface diffusion-controlled morphology evolution.