| Abstract: | A general variational principle concerning non-stationary purely dissipative phenomena, obeying ONSAGER 's reciprocal relations, is presented. The principle expresses that the variation of the sum of the total entropy production and the time derivative of the MASSIEU function is equal to zero. It is shown that the EULER -LAGRANGE equations corresponding to arbitrary variations of the state variables yield the conservation laws. Other general criteria for non-stationary processes have been given by GLANSDORFF -PRIGOGINE and GYARMATI . They are compared with our principle. Two illustrative examples are considered: coupled heat and electrical conduction in an isotropic medium and chemical reactions coupled with diffusion of matter and heat conduction in a multi-component fluid. |
