KINETICS OF PHASE SEGREGATION IN ELASTIC AND VISCOELASTIC MEDIA

A general theory of cluster growth and Ostwald ripening under the influence of elastic strain evolving as the result of cluster formation and growth is developed. This general theory can be applied to the description of cluster growth independent of the particular model applied for the calculation of the strain fields. Three models for the description of the elastic strain are discussed in detail. It is shown that the elastic response of the matrix may lead to a total inhibition of a cluster growth and Ostwald ripening, also in the absence of direct elastic interactions between the clusters both in elastic and in viscoelastic media if the mobility of the matrix particles (for viscoelastic media) is small compared with the mobility of the segregating component or equal to zero (elastic bodies). The developed theory is applied to an interpretation of experimental results on segregation processes in glass-forming melts, showing a quite different asymptotic behavior in the stage of Ostwald ripening as compared with the Lifshitz-Slyozov power laws. The agreement between the theory developed here and the experimental results is found to be good. © 1990.