The sintering and adhesion of Ice

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Abstract
The current theory of sintering is incomplete and consequently previous experiments on the sintering of ice have been misinterpreted. The evaporation–condensation theory is now extended to include the case where material is transferred by diffusion through an environmental gas. Measurements were made on the rates of growth of the neck formed between single and polycrystalline ice spheres, 50 μ to 700 μ in diameter, in the temperature range −3°c to −20°c, in air at atmospheric pressure. The results are in quantitative agreement with the new evaporation–condensation theory, and further confirmation was obtained from experiments with spheres of heavy ice, and by the observed effects of replacing the air by either hydrogen or silicone oil. It is argued that the sintering of ice by either volume or surface diffusion would be slower by almost four orders of magnitude. No evidence is found for the recent suggestion that the sintering and adhesion of pure ice is caused by the existence of a liquid-like surface layer. The ice spheres show symptoms of having such a liquid layer only if they contain dissolved salts or if their surfaces are otherwise contaminated.

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