We extend our analysis of the dynamical evolution of simple star cluster models , in order to provide comparison standards that will aid in interpreting the results of more complex realistic simulations .
We augment our previous primordial-binary simulations by introducing a tidal field , and starting with King models of different central concentrations .
We present the results of N -body calculations of the evolution of equal-mass models , starting with primordial binary fractions of 0 - 100 % , and N values from 512 to 16384 .
We also attempt to extrapolate some of our results to the larger number of particles that are necessary to model globular clusters .

We characterize the steady-state ‘ deuterium main sequence ’ phase in which primordial binaries are depleted in the core in the process of ‘ gravitationally burning ’ .
In this phase we find that the ratio of the core to half-mass radius , r _ { c } / r _ { h } , is similar to that measured for isolated systems ( Heggie et al .
2005 ) .
In addition to the generation of energy due to hardening and depletion of the primordial binary population , the overall evolution of the star clusters is driven by a competing process : the tidal dissolution of the system .
If the primordial binary fraction is greater than 5 \% and the total number of particles N \geq 8192 , we find that primordial binaries are not fully depleted before tidal dissolution , in systems initially described by a King model with a self-consistent tidal field .

We compare our findings , obtained by means of direct N -body simulations but scaled , where possible , to larger N , with similar studies carried out by means of Monte Carlo methods ( Fregeau et al .
2003 , 2005 ) .
We find significant qualitative and quantitative differences with the results in the earlier paper .
Some of these differences are explicable by the different treatment of the tidal field in the two studies .
Others , however , confirm the conclusion of Fregeau et al ( 2005 ) that the efficiency of binary burning in the earlier Monte Carlo runs was too high .
There remain unexplained differences , however .
In particular , the binary population appears to be depleted too quickly , even in the most recent Monte Carlo results .