Computer Simulation of Final‐Stage Sintering : II, Influence of Initial Pore Size

A two‐dimensional Monte Carlo simulation procedure has been used to investigate the effect of the initial pore size on the microstructural evolution and the kinetics of final‐stage sintering. The sintering time scales with r⁴₀/D_gb and the grain‐growth time scales with r²_O/D_m. Pores are found to effectively pin the grain boundaries from the beginning of final‐stage sintering at a porosity of Φ= 0.09 until Φ= 0.03. For Φ 0.03, the remaining pores do not effectively retard grain‐boundary migration and normal grain growth occurs. Small pores were found to be less effective at retarding grain growth than expected on the basis of a simple grain‐growth pinning model. The mean pore size was found to be nearly constant throughout the simulations.