A three-dimensional dual-mechanism model of pore stability in a sintering alumina structure

A three-dimensional simulation based on a cubic configuration of sintering grains was formulated to study the evolution of pore morphology. A numerical simulation treating lattice diffusion derived from a viscoplastic formulation was used as the basis for the work. The additional mechanism of surface diffusion was incorporated into the simulation. An objective in a broader context is to design nano-scale filtration media. At this size scale, tracing the evolving pore morphology with any degree of accuracy in three dimensions requires the simultaneous application of relevant sintering mechanisms. The paper details the formulation of the model and presents a quantitative comparison to some benchmark experimental data. An example result demonstrates that the coded model was able to simulate the pore morphology evolution in a plausible manner. At length scales below 10−6 m, significant morphological differences are observed for simultaneous surface and lattice diffusion compared to considering only lattice diffusion.