A viscous sintering model for pore shrinkage in packings of cylinders

The process of particle coalescence due to surface tension, usually referred to as sintering, is very important in processes involving polymer, ceramic, or metal aggregates, especially in additive manufacturing. A model was developed for part shrinkage by determining the rate of void and volume reduction of a square unit cell in a lattice arrangement of cylindrical particles. Neck growth between cylinders in contact is determined by assuming …