Transient Ostwald ripening in systems with a concentration dependent diffusivity. I. The LSW limit

Particle coarsening in systems where the matrix phase diffusion coefficient is a function of solute composition has been investigated. A growth rate has been derived for the case of a diffusivity that varies linearly with composition, and the average particle radius, the number density of particles and the scaled particle size distribution have been monitored as a function of time using a previously published numerical scheme. A variety of initial conditions were chosen in the simulations and in each case the time evolution has been compared with the constant diffusivity case.