ISSN:
1573-4803
Source:
Springer Online Journal Archives 1860-2000
Topics:
Mechanical Engineering, Materials Science, Production Engineering, Mining and Metallurgy, Traffic Engineering, Precision Mechanics
Notes:
Abstract The theory of Ostwald ripening developed by Lifshitz and Slezov and by Wagner (LSW theory) has been used for many years to interpret ageing experiments in metallic alloys. The theory is reviewed, and extended in some respects which are suggested by using it to interpret experiments on the ripening of precipitates and colloids in non-metallic systems. A detailed treatment is given for the case where the diffusion of solute species down dislocations or grain boundaries controls the ripening rate and the particle size distribution. The assumptions and approximations used in the theory are examined, and it is shown that an inhomogeneous spatial distribution of particles can lead to several independently ripening systems within the same sample if groups of particles are separated by distances large compared with the interparticle separation within each group. The theory is then used to interpret observed size distributions of precipitates in alkali halides and glass. Some of the data do not fit into the framework of the LSW theory and it is suggested that this is the result of the extremely inhomogeneous spatial distributions of particles found in electron microscope studies of these systems
Type of Medium:
Electronic Resource
URL:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/BF00548725
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