Anisotropic coarsening: the effect of interfacial properties on the shape of the grains

The process of anisotropic coarsening of grains is examined by a mean-field model in two dimensions. The evolution of size and shape distributions in an ensemble of rectangular grains is solved in a self-similar regime and compared to simulation of the process under the constraint of constant area. In order to identify the roles of surface energy and mobility in the determination of the shape of the grains, arbitrary anisotropy of both properties is allowed. It is shown that although the shapes of both small and large grains are affected by the anisotropy in the mobility, the majority of the grains in the ensemble tend to the equilibrium shape after a long ripening time.