Experimental and Thermodynamic Studies of the Fe–Si Binary System

Abstract

Phase equilibria in the Fe–Si binary system were investigated experimentally and thermodynamic assessment was carried out. The αFe (A2) + α"Fe₃Si (D0₃) two-phase microstructures at 600°C and 650°C were obtained, whose grain sizes were sufficiently coarsened to be analyzed by FE-EPMA with a spatial resolution below 0.5 μm under the condition of 6 kV accelerating voltage. α'FeSi (B2) + α"Fe₃Si (D0₃) two-phase equilibria above 700°C were detected for the first time and equilibrium compositions were determined by the diffusion couple method. The horn-shaped two-phase miscibility gap extends from the low temperature αFe + α"Fe₃Si equilibrium along the B2/D0₃ second-order transition boundary and closes below 1000°C. Four-sublattice split compound energy formalism was applied to calculate the Gibbs energy of the bcc phases, A2(αFe), B2(α'FeSi) and D0₃(α"Fe₃Si), and the thermodynamic parameters in the Fe–Si binary system were evaluated. Equilibrium relations in the binary system were well reproduced, especially the effect of the B2 and D0₃ ordering on the liquidus and solidus curves and the miscibility gap between bcc phases. Optimized thermodynamic parameters as well as the experimental results are expected to be helpful for developing higher multi-component systems for practical steels.