Pc. Sivakumar S",pradip,"kapur et Sg. Malghan, A SIZE INTERVAL-BY-SIZE INTERVAL MARCHING ALGORITHM FOR MODELING GRAIN-GROWTH IN THE INTERMEDIATE STAGE OF SINTERING, Colloids and surfaces. A, Physicochemical and engineering aspects, 133(1-2), 1998, pp. 173-182
An accurate and efficient numerical algorithm is presented for solving
the grain population balance equation which describes the evolution o
f micro-structure as a function of time in solid-state sintering. The
solution scheme is based on the postulate that in a class of physicall
y realistic deterministic systems, the queue or the relative order of
particles in size is maintained intact as they grow and/or decay in ti
me. The resulting size interval-by-size interval marching algorithm ha
s been validated with the available asymptotic steady-state analytical
solutions of grain growth/ripening model equations. It can be employe
d to simulate the sintering process in a more quantitative and realist
ic manner than what has been possible hitherto, especially in the inte
rmediate stage of sintering, which is of practical interest in ceramic
systems. A variety of simulations showing the effects of initial grai
n size distribution and sintering time are presented. Potential applic
ations for optimizing the sintering process are discussed. (C) 1998 El
sevier Science B.V.