Applicability and non-applicability of equilibrium statistical mechanics to non-thermaldamage phenomena

Abstract

This paper investigates the applicability of classical, Gibbs–Boltzmann statisticalmechanics to the phenomenon of non-thermal damage. As an example, a non-thermalfiber-bundle model with the global uniform (mean field) load sharing is considered.Stochastic topological behavior in the system is described in terms of an effectivetemperature parameter that thermalizes the system. An equation of state and a topologicalanalogue of the energy-balance equation are obtained. The formalism of the free energypotential is developed, and the nature of the first-order phase transition and spinodal isdemonstrated.