Diffusive model of pore shrinkage in final-stage sintering under hydrostatic pressure

A grain-boundary-diffusion model is developed to understand the densification behavior of pores in the final stage of sintering under compressive hydrostatic pressure. From analysis of the diffusive model, the bulk viscosity, densification rate and shrinkage rate of pores are predicted for a dense matrix polycrystal containing spherical pores, and compared with the existing experimental results and models. A transition in the sintering mechanism is predicted from the different pore-size dependence of the shrinkage rate between the diffusive and the viscous flow models. The transition effect is experimentally confirmed by the appearance of a downward inflection in the size distribution of pores during sintering. The upward inflection observed experimentally in the cavity-size distribution after superplastic deformation is also explained by the transition of the mechanism.