We derived a general Onsager variational principle in an intuitive and simple manner. Our variational method is similar to the Gauss principle of least constraint rather than the principle of least action. Our result becomes the original Onsager principle if dissipation function is a quadratic function of fluxes and sources. Our result also agrees with previous thermodynamic theories.

中文翻译：

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不可逆热力学的变分方法

我们以直观和简单的方式推导出一般的 Onsager 变分原理。我们的变分方法类似于高斯最小约束原理而不是最小作用量原理。如果耗散函数是通量和源的二次函数，我们的结果就成为原始的 Onsager 原理。我们的结果也与先前的热力学理论一致。