A CONTINUUM MODEL OF A THERMOELASTIC SOLID CAPABLE OF UNDERGOING PHASE-TRANSITIONS

WE CONSTRUCT explicitly a Helmholtz free energy, a kinetic relation and a nucleation criterion for a one-dimensional thermoelastic solid, capable of undergoing either mechanically- or thermally-induced phase transitions. We study the hysteretic macroscopic response predicted by this model in the case of quasi-static processes involving stress cycling at constant temperature, thermal cycling at constant stress, or a combination of mechanical and thermal loading that gives rise to the shape-memory effect. These predictions are compared qualitatively with experimental results.