Three-dimensional analysis of particle coarsening in high volume fraction solid–liquid mixtures

The three-dimensional microstructure of 78 and 52 vol.% Sn-rich particles coarsened within a liquid Pb–Sn matrix were determined by the reconstruction of serial sections. The three-dimensional particle size distribution (PSD) and the particle–particle contact distributions were determined. The three-dimensional PSDs do not match those predicted by particle coarsening theory, but there is reasonable agreement with the grain size distributions predicted by a grain growth simulation. In addition, when the particle–particle contact distribution is normalized to the average number of particle contacts, the distribution is statistically invariant with volume fraction. At 52 vol.% it is found that the number of contacts is proportional to the square of the average particle size, but this is not true for 78 vol.%. This is attributed to the increased shape distortions of the particles that are present in the higher volume fraction samples. 2006 Acta Materialia Inc. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.