Digression: Statical Theory of Interfacial Stability; Convexity, The Frank Diagram, and Corners; Wulff Regions
Morton E. Gurtin · 1993
Abstract It is a basic physical premise that stable configurations of a mechanical system minimize energy. In this section we will discuss the ramifications of this premise for the phase interface. Aside from being important in its own right, the discussion will furnish a derivation of the (statical) balance relations for capillary forces as Euler – Lagrange equations corresponding to stationary values of the energy, and will provide a physical basis for certain assumptions we will make concerning the interfacial energy.