On an Order-Parameter Model of Solid-Solid Phase Transitions

We examine a model of solid-solid phase transitions that includes thermo-elastic effects and an order parameter. The model is derived as a special case of the Gurtin-Fried model posed in one space dimension with a symmetric triple-well free energy in which the relative heights of the wells vary with temperature. We examine the temperature independent case, showing existence of a unique classical solution of a regularized system of partial differential equations using semigroup theory. This is followed by numerical study of a finite element algorithm for the temperature independent model. Finally, we present computational material concerning the temperature dependent model.