Effect of gravity on three-dimensional coordination number distribution in liquid phase sintered microstructures

Gravity affects microstructural evolution when a liquid phase is present during sintering. The effect of gravity on the three-dimensional coordination number distribution of tungsten grains in liquid phase sintered heavy alloy specimens is quantitatively characterized. A combination of montage serial sectioning, digital image processing, and unbiased stereological sampling procedures is used to estimate the coordination number distribution in three-dimensional microstructures. The microgravity environment decreases the mean coordination number. However, hardly any isolated grains are observed in the specimens, liquid phase sintered in a microgravity environment. The effect of microgravity on the coordination numbers mainly resides in its effect on the mean coordination number. In all specimens, there is a strong correlation between grain size and coordination number, which can be expressed as [D-c/(D) over bar](2) = C/C-0 where C-0 is the mean coordination number, (D) over bar the global average size of the tungsten grains, and D-c the average size of only those grains which have coordination number C. (C) 1999 Acta Metallurgica Inc. Published by Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.