Carbide grain growth in cemented carbides

Abnormal grain growth is often observed in cemented carbides during sintering, but cannot be understood in terms of the classical LSW theory. In this work the grain growth behavior during sintering at 1430 °C is studied both experimentally and by means of computer simulations. A model based on several processes—2-D nucleation of growth ledges, mass transfer across the interface and long-range diffusion coupled in series—is formulated and the equations are solved numerically. Both computer simulations and experimental studies reveal that the grain growth behavior is strongly influenced by the initial size distribution.