Local-equilibrium formalism applied to mechanics of solids

Conference · Wed Jan 01 04:00:00 EST 1992

OSTI ID:7206171

Kestin, J

The lecture starts with an expression of good wishes to George Herrmann on the occasion of his seventieth birthday and continues with a lament that the majority of research workers in the field of solid mechanics have failed to appreciate the power and relevance of conventional'' thermodynamics which is based on the acceptance of the hypothesis of local equilibrium (principle of local state). The lecture then proceeds to motivate the essential concepts of conventional thermodynamics and emphasizes the differences between the description of nonequilibrium states in physical space and equilibrium states in the Gibbsian phase space. It is asserted that the subject acquires its simplest form by the recognition of the relevance of Bridgman's internal variables. With their aid it is possible to define the accompanying equilibrium state and the accompanying reversible process. An elimination of internal energy between the field equation of energy (First Law) and the Gibbs equation in rate form results in an explicit expression for the local rate of entropy production, {theta}. It is asserted that the preceding elements supplemented with appropriate rate equations result in a closed system of partial differential equations whose solution, subject to appropriate initial and boundary conditions, constitutes the process ( history'') under consideration. 11 refs.

• Research Organization: Brown Univ., Providence, RI (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: DOE; USDOE, Washington, DC (United States)
• DOE Contract Number: FG02-87ER13687
• OSTI ID: 7206171
• Report Number(s): DOE/ER/13687-8; CONF-9203167--1; ON: DE92016852
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

661300* -- Other Aspects of Physical Science-- (1992-)
71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS
GENERAL PHYSICS
CLASSICAL MECHANICS
DIFFERENTIAL EQUATIONS
DOCUMENT TYPES
ENERGY
ENTROPY
EQUATIONS
FREE ENTHALPY
LECTURES
MECHANICS
PARTIAL DIFFERENTIAL EQUATIONS
PHYSICAL PROPERTIES
PHYSICS
SOLIDS
THERMODYNAMIC PROPERTIES
THERMODYNAMICS