A phase-field model of sintering and related phenomena in a 2-phase system and in a multi-phase system was presented. Diffusion of vacancies was considered to be the atomic mechanism for redistribution of material and the familiar model of thermal vacancies in a crystal was used as the energy formulation. The solid material will thus be characterized by a low vacancy content and the surroundings by a very high vacancy content and a very low content of atoms. The surface of the solid body will be characterized by a continuous variation in vacancy content. The temporal development of particles during solid state sintering with effects such as wetting was shown in various simulations.

Phase-Field Simulation of Sintering and Related Phenomena – a Vacancy Diffusion Approach. K.Asp, J.Ågren: Acta Materialia, 2006, 54[5], 1241-8