In general, two types of thermodynamic processes in materials can be distinguished: reversible or irreversible. Process is reversible if the material after unloading returns to the initial state, whereas it is irreversible if it does not return to its initial state, but to a changed state, where strains, stresses, and material properties differ from the initial ones. During irreversible processes, also called dissipative processes, the material suffers from various dissipative phenomena, such as plasticity, creep, damage, phase transformation, etc. that all result, locally or globally, in the material microstructure change (plastic microslips, or nucleation and growth of voids, or other) due to the internal energy dissipation. Only in the case of purely reversible process, after unloading, the material microstructure remains totally unchanged, what occurs in...