Abstract
The sintering of two spherical particles was analyzed in terms of mechanics for coupled grain boundary/surface diffusion. The shrinkage is a result of relative motion of particles caused by grain boundary diffusion. The center of mass of a particle also moves due to the spheroidization of particles by surface diffusion. The mobility and the sintering force for both processes were calculated in sintering of two identical particles till they reach the equilibrium. The contribution of the grain boundary diffusion to the final shrinkage increased with increasing the ratio of grain boundary diffusion coefficient to surface diffusion coefficient and the ratio of grain boundary energy to surface energy.
