The concept of Eshelby’s energy–momentum tensor was briefly reconsidered here with respect to material defects in solid mechanics. This was used to obtain the thermodynamic driving forces which acted on centers of dilatation, dislocations and interfaces of 2-phase materials. A simple constitutive kinetic law related this force to the velocity of the defect. The kinetics were also formulated in a statistical sense by using Boltzmann’s principle. A semi-analytical method, using a finite element formalism, was suggested for efficient numerical treatment. No restrictions were placed on the elastic anisotropy of the material. The theory was applied to a 2-phase system.

A Computational Concept for the Kinetics of Defects in Anisotropic Materials. S.Kolling, R.Mueller, D.Gross: Computational Materials Science, 2003, 26, 87-94