R. Lofstedt, THERMODYNAMIC APPROACH TO CREEP AND PLASTICITY, Physical review. E, Statistical physics, plasmas, fluids, and related interdisciplinary topics, 55(6), 1997, pp. 6719-6725
A solid subjected to a small load distorts rapidly in the manner predi
cted by elasticity theory. On a much longer time scale, the solid will
creep. This dissipative motion is an important consideration in the e
ngineering design of, for example, aircraft engines, but the macroscop
ic equations of motion describing this deformation are based on empiri
cal observations. The principles of thermodynamics specify the dissipa
tive fluxes appropriate to the classical equations of elasticity, whic
h include one, unique to solids, which describes creep. The thermodyna
mic theory is presented, and the insights into the underlying microsco
pic mechanisms of creep, gleaned from the macroscopic formalism, are a
lso discussed.