Phase coarsening in multicomponent systems.

A theory for phase coarsening in multicomponent systems is developed in which both the multicomponent thermodynamic effect and kinetic effect from a nonzero volume fraction are considered. In contrast to previous theory, a diffusion screening zone for a coarsening particle due to nonzero volume fraction is introduced. The evolution equation for phase coarsening in multicomponent systems is derived in a rigorous way in the framework of the maximum rate of dissipation with the constraints of mass and energy conservation. Existing previous relations are recovered and generalized. Some findings such as the relationship between the maximum particle size and volume fraction and particle size distribution in multicomponent systems are discovered.