Phenomenological theory of sintering and its application to swelling

The general phenomenological theory of sintering, formulated by the author in 1998 is applied to the problem of swelling. Driving forces, caused by the presence of the evolution of heat in the volume of a sample (electric contact, hf, inductive heating or penetrating radiation, e.g., neutrons could be the sources of the heat in the bulk of a sample) are considered. The influence of these driving forces on sintering, structure and properties is discussed. The role of mobile and immobile dislocations, grain boundaries, and pores is considered. Cycling and pulsing regimes of sintering are investigated.