Figure 4

Visualization of particle rotations and their rotation ‘paths’ and particle translations. (a) Left and centre images: 3D isosurface rendering of the particles in RoI1 with vector lines representing the rotation axes of the grains within the particles (related to Fig. 3(b)) for step 1 (black lines) and step 5 (red lines). Note: the images represent different views (from above and below, respectively). Right-hand image: Spherical projection onto which the rotation axes are plotted for the 9 particles for each of the steps 1 to 5 (distinguished by the different colour labels, as indicated). Note: antipodal symmetry is applied, with the axes all plotted in the upper hemisphere. (b) Left and centre images: Plan views (transparent 3D surfaces) of RoI1 and RoI2 each showing sintering steps 1 and 5 overlayed to illustrate the changes in particle positions. Indicated within each particle are the measured particle centres at each step 1 through to 5. Right-hand image: Planar projection showing particle centre trajectories in the horizontal plane for all particles in the sample.