Thermal stresses in a freezing sphere and its application to cryobiology

A study was conducted on thermal stresses in an inwardly solidifying sphere. A solution was presented which accounts for thermal expansion associated with temperature gradients and volume changes linked with phase transition.The frozen medium was modeled as an elastic-perfectly plastic. Parametric studies using appropriate material properties and cryopreservation protocols indicated that strains associated with phase transition led to higher stresses than those associated with thermal expansion.