Self-oscillatory instability of the driven phase front propagation induced by liberation of latent heat.

We theoretically address crystals exhibiting first-order phase transformations subjected to a steadily propagating temperature gradient. The latter drives a nonisothermal propagation of a phase front. We theoretically demonstrate that for the phase transformations of the displacive type, the phase front always steadily follows the isotherm.

Transformation toughness induced by surface tension of the crack-tip process zone interface: A field-theoretical approach.

We study a crystal with a motionless crack exhibiting the transformational process zone at its tip within the field-theoretical approach. The latter enables us to describe the transformation toughness phenomenon and relate it to the solid's location on its phase diagram. We demonstrate that the zone extends backward beyond the crack tip due to the zone boundary surface tension.

Morphological transformation of the process zone at the tip of a propagating crack. I. Simulation.

Stress concentration at a crack tip engenders a process zone, a small domain containing a phase, different from that in the bulk of the solid. We demonstrate that this zone at the tip of a propagating crack exhibits a morphological transformation with an increase of the crack velocity. The concave zone shape with an invagination in its back that is characteristic of a slow crack transforms into a droplet-shaped convex zone upon exceeding a critical velocity value, v_{G}.

Crack-tip process zone as a bifurcation problem.

Stress concentration at a crack tip generates a solid structural transformation in its vicinity, the process zone. We argue that its formation represents a local phase transition described by a multicomponent order parameter. We derive a system of equations describing the dynamics of the order parameter driven by an inhomogeneous, time-dependent stress field in the solid and show that it exhibits a bifurcation.