Sintering through surface motion by the difference in mean curvature Original Research Article

The diffusion of atoms changes the morphology of particles in sintering. When the attachment kinetics of adatoms is slower than the diffusion of atoms, the sintering is controlled by the local processes taking place at the interface. This interface-controlled sintering, for example, the sintering by evaporation–condensation, is described as the sintering through the surface motion by the difference between mean curvature and the average of mean curvature. The sintering of two identical spherical particles has been studied by the Surface Evolver program until they reach the final equilibrium shape. Although the evaporation–condensation is a “non-densifying mechanism”, the shrinkage occurred due to the motion of mass centers of particles in a long time. The shrinkage rate was approximately proportional to the sintering force.