Note on the Proposed Framework

We will develop an alternative framework for examining non-equilibrium thermodynamics processes in continuum mechanics. In this approach we invoke a strong constraint of the entropy inequality, i.e., the second part of the Second Law of Thermodynamics. The essence of the alternative framework is that the lost energy in the sense of the classical irreversible process does not completely disappear but it is converted into another form (fundamentally into heat, especially in a mechano-thermal problem), and in most cases the lost energy is not measurable. 

It is important to note that an irreversible process is essential in classical theories of thermodynamics, since the entropy inequality is derived for this irreversible process. However, the concept of reversible and irreversible processes plays no role in our framework, because the energy conversion process described by the First Law of Thermodynamics is essential, and the entropy inequality is not formulated as a universal law as mentioned above. 

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