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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 15 February 2011
Theories of late-stage phase separation are discussed from the perspective of statistical mean-field approaches, whereby the material interfaces are assumed to interact with the appropriate average microstructural environment. For coarsening of two- and three-dimensional phases, recent progress is presented for selecting the most appropriate averages that characterize the microstructural environment surrounding a domain. The effective mean field, as well as the average interaction distance over which transport occurs, may be determined self-consistently by imposing global constraints that reflect the microstructural phase fractions and by using explicit spatial and ensemble averages of the matrix transport fields. Comparison of new theoretical coarsening rates with liquid-phase sintering experiments show good agreement over a wide range of phase fractions. Extension of this approach to grain growth, which involves more complex topological interactions, is also discussed.