| Many phase transformations in living and non-living systems are accompanied by the latent heat release and redistribution which causes a number of interesting effects. Some of them, like dendritic structure formation during crystallization of elemental metals or recalescence during crystallization of alloys, are well studied. However, there is a number of less studied thermal effects that nevertheless cause significant changes in the rates and outcomes of phase transformations. Among them are heat-trapping and surface creation-dissipation effects. Thermal effects may also appear in transformations that are not associated with any latent heat release, like thermal drag in anti-phase domain-boundary motion. In nanostructures thermal effects may even change the state diagram of the system. We will review a comprehensive theory of thermal effects in different phase transformations in materials using the continuum (field-theoretic) approach. To classify different thermal effects that manifest in various situations, a comprehensive diagram in the plane of material¢s parameters will be presented. Several experiments will be suggested for the experimental verification of the thermal effects. |
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