Electro‐Chemo‐Mechanical Multi‐Component Multi‐Phase‐Field Modelling Framework

In this work we present the framework for a fully coupled electro‐chemo‐mechanical multi‐component multi‐phase continuum model. It is based on the variational framework for generalized standard materials and couples finite mechanical deformations and stresses, chemical volume changes, Maxwell–Stefan type multi‐component diffusion, chemical reactions, electric fields, electric currents and phase transformations of multiple phases. The presented framework fulfills the balance laws for mass, charge, particles, momentum and is consistent with the second law of thermodynamics. The model is implemented and tested with the finite elements method. Examples including mechanically induced diffusion, reaction driven phase transformation, chemical and phase dependent stress development and ionic diffusion driven electric field formation show some of the coupled multi‐physical effects that the framework is capable to represent.