An experimental and theoretical analysis of the phase equilibria in the Fe-Cr-V-C system

New experimental phase equilibria information about the Fe-Cr-V-C system are presented and used to modify the thermodynamic description of the system. The main interest was focused on the composition of the MC and M7C3 carbides and the necessary adjustment of the Cr and V distribution between carbides and matrix. A new set of thermodynamic parameter values describing the Gibbs energy of different phases was obtained. A number of calculated sections of the Cr-C, Cr-V-C, Fe-Cr-C, and the Fe-Cr-V-C systems are presented and compared against both new and old experimental information. Calculations on commercial alloys to verify the improvements in multicomponent systems are also presented. The present calculation using the Thermo-Calc software shows much better agreement with the new experimental results than previous assessments.