A statistical mechanics-based investigation of a solute atmosphere interacting with a crack: Solute redistribution and image effects

Although continuum frameworks have been developed in the past for studying how material defects behave in solid solutions, recent studies have demonstrated that the self-stress field of the solutes which enter the chemical potential in the prevalent continuum models must be excluded, and instead the image stresses included, in a correct treatment. Here, working within the framework of Gibbs canonical ensemble of statistical mechanics, and...