INFLUENCE OF PARTICLE-SIZE DISTRIBUTION ON COARSENING

This study has examined the evolution of the particle size distribution and the effect of the initial and transient distributions on coarsening kinetics and the path of evolution. A numerical procedure has been employed to simulate the coarsening process statistically. It was found that the distribution passes through a continuous range of forms from the initial distribution towards the asymptotic state, with initially narrow distributions widening and wide distributions narrowing. Experimental studies using liquid phase sintered Cu-20 Co alloy with different initial distribution widths agreed with the above simulation results qualitatively. The simulated coarsening rate was found to be related to the width and shape of particle size distribution. A rate constant has been derived relating the instantaneous coarsening rate and the transient moments of the distribution. The effect of the initial distribution on coarsening rate was found to be particularly significant in the early stage of coarsening when rapid distribution changes occur. After these early rapid transients but still far from the asymptotic state, the instantaneous coarsening rate was closely related to the instantaneous geometric standard deviation of the distribution.