On the Chemical Affinity Tensor for Chemical Reactions in Deformable Materials

The mass, momentum, and energy balance equations are written out for a chemical reaction localized on the reaction front in an open deformable body-gaseous component system to derive the entropy production equation, which naturally allows one to obtain a formula for the chemical affinity tensor. This tensor determines both the chemical equilibrium and the transformation front kinetics. The locking effect, i.e., the effect of blocking the reaction by the stresses on the front, is discussed, and the conditions on the phase interface and on the chemical reaction front are compared.