An extension of mean-field coarsening theory to include particle coalescence using nearest-neighbour functions

A mean field description of particle coalescence and Ostwald ripening is presented, The inclusion of particle coalescence events is shown to influence the evolution of the size distribution function and the time taken to reach the steady state particle coarsening regime. Nearest neighbour functions are used to represent the spatial arrangement of particles within multi-modal particle radius distributions and to calculate the frequency of coalescence events. The impact of particle coalescence upon long term coarsening kinetics has been studied. By tracking the evolution of a unimodal and bimodal dispersions in phase space, it is demonstrated that coalescence affects the paths of particle dispersion towards the steady state particle coarsening regime as well as the time scales to reach it. (C) 2016 Acta Materialia Inc. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.