A thermodynamic approach to non-isothermal phase-field evolution in continuum physics (Q2492272)

This paper establishes a general thermodynamic setting for phase transition models in conserved and non-conserved two-phase systems under non-isothermal conditions, and it compares this setting with other schemes appearing in the literature. The phase transition is modelized by means of an order parameter or phase field, which may have different values at different regions and which changes smoothly. The model the phase field as an internal variable whose evolution equation is considered as a constitutive equation. The authors derive the necessary and sufficient restrictions placed by thermodynamics on the constitutive equations, both for conserved and non-conserved phase fields. They take into account non-local effects through an extra term in the entropy flux, whose occurrence is related to the depedence of the free energy on the gradient of the phase field. In special cases, the evolution equation reduces to previous equations obtained in \textit{H. W. Alt} and \textit{I. Pawlow} [Physica D 59, 389--416 (1992; Zbl 0763.58031)]\quad \textit{O. Penrose} and \textit{P. C. Fife} [Physica D 69, 107--113 (1993; Zbl 0799.76084)]. This model is afterwards specialized to the modelization of ice-water transition, at constant pressure, allowing for superheating and undercooling, and to the description of thermally-induced phase transitions in superconductors.