An irreversible thermodynamic approach to normal grain growth with a pinning force

The formalism of the Thermodynamic Theory of Irreversible Processes is applied to grain growth in the presence of a pinning force due to a particle dispersion. The Irreversible Thermodynamics treatment is able to show that both Burkeʹs law and Zener type expressions have a sound thermodynamical basis. Particle pinning models are interpreted in terms of the irreversible entropy production that takes place as the grain boundary bypasses a particle.