Peculiarities of coexistence of phases with different electric conductivities under the influence of electric current

In this study using Volmer-Zeldovich model and Ginzburg-Landau models we showed that in the domain of coexistence of phases under the influence of the electric current the phase equilibrium curve splits into two different curves for the direct and inverse phase transitions. It is demonstrated that there exist thermodynamic regions where both phases are metastable simultaneously. The latter effect occurs due to the splitting of the phase equilibrium curves into two curves, i.e. the equilibrium curves for the direct and for the inverse phase transitions. We investigated the dynamics of surface phase transition in current-carrying conductors. It is showed that inductance change has a strong effect on the dynamics of phase transitions. At the initial stage of phase transition ponderomotive forces caused by the inductance change prevent surface crystallization and promote surface melting. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science S.A. All rights reserved.