Organic binders are usually pre-mixed with ceramic powders to enhance the formability during the shape forming process. These binders, however, must be eliminated before sintering in order to avoid pore formation and unusual grain growth during sintering. The present work was performed to investigate the effects of residual binder on grain growth behavior during sintering of piezoelectric ceramics. The microstructures of sintered samples were examined for various thermal processes and atmosphere at debinding. Addition of binder seems to promote abnormal grain growth especially in incompletely debinded regions and to make the grain shape change from corner-rounded to faceted.

Growth behavior and kinetics of grains in a liquid matrix has been studied by computer simulation for various physical and processing conditions. The kinetics of growing and dissolving grains were considered to follow those of single crystals in a matrix. Depending on the shape of crystals, rounded or faceted, different kinetic equations were adopted for growing grains and an identical equation for dissolving grains. Effects of such critical parameters as step free energy, temperature, and liquid volume fraction were evaluated.