Experimental and Thermodynamic Studies of the Fe-Si Binary System

Phase equilibria in the Fe-Si binary system were investigated experimentally and thermodynamic assessment was carried out. The alpha Fe (A2) + alpha '' Fe3Si (D0(3)) two-phase microstructures at 600 degrees C and 650 degrees C were obtained, whose grain sizes were sufficiently coarsened to be analyzed by FE-EPMA with a spatial resolution below 0.5 mu m under the condition of 6 kV accelerating voltage. alpha'FeSi (B2) + alpha '' Fe3Si (D0(3)) two-phase equilibria above 700 degrees 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 aFe + alpha '' Fe3Si equilibrium along the B2/D0(3) second-order transition boundary and closes below 1 000 degrees C. Four-sublattice split compound energy formalism was applied to calculate the Gibbs energy of the bcc phases, A2(alpha Fe), B2(alpha'FeSi) and D0(3)(alpha '' 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 D0(3) 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.