Alexandre Guevel

I am interested in exploring the implications of non-equilibrium thermodynamics on practical theories such as phase-field modeling, with applications to porous media like geomaterials. Phase-field theory is well fitted for modeling interfacial problems and although usually applied for mixing phases, it can be adapted to modeling geomaterials at the grain scale. For that I use the underlying mathematical framework of thermodynamics based on contact geometry, providing a consistent and systematic way of rederiving various models. This procedure extends the usual phase-field equations by allowing both the normal variations of the interface and the usually missing curvature variations to be fully dissipative. The new curvature variations term introduces a secondary complementary leverage, an inhibition effect balancing the already existing initiation effect. This proves prevalent for modeling high-curvature interfacial structures like geomaterials. Such modeling simply using elasticity at the grain scale can be upscaled as a damage law. A further application is unsaturated media and the addition of the water and air phases. Similarly, the Young-Laplace law can be extended with a dynamic curvature variation term. An interesting application will be desiccation cracks in collaboration with the rest of the group as part of the DOE project on nuclear waste disposals.

Contact Information

  • Email Address: alexandre.guevel@duke.edu