Thermodynamic approach to creep and plasticity

Abstract

A solid subjected to a small load distorts rapidly in the manner predicted by elasticity theory. On a much longer time scale, the solid will creep. This dissipative motion is an important consideration in the engineering design of, for example, aircraft engines, but the macroscopic equations of motion describing this deformation are based on empirical observations. The principles of thermodynamics specify the dissipative fluxes appropriate to the classical equations of elasticity, which include one, unique to solids, which describes creep. The thermodynamic theory is presented, and the insights into the underlying microscopic mechanisms of creep, gleaned from the macroscopic formalism, are also discussed.