Merger analysis for a triple system with an arbitrary tertiary mass (m₃) and outer orbital period (P_out), specifically addressing the ZLK mechanism including the single-averaged approximation, as well as the role of apsidal precession from GR and tides (Sect. 2.2.2). The system includes an inner circular binary with masses m₁=m₂ = 55 M_⊙ and an orbital period of 1.1 d, at a metallicity Z = 0.00042. We use different colours to highlight various regions of interest. Dark grey indicates dynamically unstable triples. Specifically, we show the merger fraction (f_merger, left panels), derived from an uniform grid in initial mutual inclinations inclinations (cos(i₀) = {−1,1}), as well as the value of cos(i₀) that results in the maximum eccentricity (right panels). We display the analysis for our chemically homogenously evolving binary at the ZAMS (top panels) and at 5.12 Myr (bottom panels), shortly after the end of the main sequence (cf. Fig. 1). In the right panels, grey indicates the region where the torque induced by the tertiary on the inner binary is not able to overcome the effect of tides.