Dynamics of steps along a martensitic phase boundary I: Semi-analytical solution

We study the motion of steps along a martensitic phase boundary in a cubic lattice. To enable analytical calculations, we assume antiplane shear deformation and consider a phase-transforming material with a stress–strain law that is piecewise linear with respect to one component of shear strain and linear with respect to another. Under these assumptions we derive a semi-analytical solution describing a steady sequential motion of the steps under an external loading. Our analysis yields kinetic relations between the driving force, the velocity of the steps and other characteristic parameters of the motion. These are studied in detail for one, two and three-step configurations. We show that the kinetic relations are significantly affected by the material anisotropy. Our results indicate the existence of multiple solutions exhibiting sequential step motion. r 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.