Variational methods for microstructural-evolution theories.

Recent progress in variational methods helps to provide general principles for microstructural evolution. Especially when several processes are interacting, such general principles are useful to formulate dynamical equations and to specify rules for evolution processes. Variational methods provide new insight and apply even under conditions of nonlinearity, nondifferentiability, and extreme anisotropy. Central to them is the concept of gradient flow with respect to an inner product. This article shows, through examples, that both well-known kinetic equations and new triple junctions motions fit in this context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]