It was recalled that charged defects diffused, through an ionic solid, under electrochemical driving forces. Such a process could be affected by the presence of mechanical stresses within the solid. A deviation of the defect concentration from its stoichiometric value, during diffusion, could produce volumetric strains in the solid. Such strains could then result in mechanical stresses if the ionic solid was under mechanical constraint or if the defect distribution was non-uniform. A theory was developed here in order to account for the coupling between mechanical stresses and the diffusion of charged defects in ionic solids. It involved a system of non-linear differential/algebraic equations which governed the defect concentrations, electrostatic potential and mechanical stresses. It was suggested that this was the first fully-coupled theory for the interaction between mechanical stresses and electrochemical forces in ionic solids.

An Electrochemomechanical Theory of Defects in Ionic Solids - I. Theory. N.Swaminathan, J.Qu, Y.Sun: Philosophical Magazine, 2007, 87[11], 1705-21