Thermodynamics of internal variables in the presence of internal forces

摘要

In this paper we have proposed an extension to the current theory of irreversible thermodynamics by introducing the concept of internal force. Within the resulting new framework we show that the phenomenon of creep enhancement, by neutron irradiation, can be explained physically and can be evaluated quantitatively by theoretical means. It is shown that the essential predictions of the theory agree well with experimental observations in the instance cited.