Thermodynamics and Phase Diagrams Arthur D. Pelton Centre de Recherche en Calcul Thermodynamique (CRCT) École Polytechnique de Montréal C.P. 6079, succursale Centre-ville Montréal QC Canada H3C 3A7 Tél : 1-514-340-4711 (ext. 4531) Fax : 1-514-340-5840 E-mail :
[email protected] (revised Aug. 10, 2011) 2 1 Introduction An understanding of phase diagrams is fundamental and essential to the study of materials science, and an understanding of thermodynamics is fundamental to an understanding of phase diagrams. A knowledge of the equilibrium state of a system under a given set of conditions is the starting point in the description of many phenomena and processes. A phase diagram is a graphical representation of the values of the thermodynamic variables when equilibrium is established among the phases of a system. Materials scientists are most familiar with phase diagrams which involve temperature, T, and composition as variables. Examples are T-composition phase diagrams for binary systems such as Fig. 1 for the Fe-Mo system, isothermal phase diagram sections of ternary systems such as Fig. 2 for the Zn-Mg-Al system, and isoplethal (constant composition) sections of ternary and higher-order systems such as Fig. 3a and Fig. 4. However, many useful phase diagrams can be drawn which involve variables other than T and composition. The diagram in Fig. 5 shows the phases present at equilibrium o in the Fe-Ni-O2 system at 1200 C as the equilibrium oxygen partial pressure (i.e. chemical potential) is varied. The x-axis of this diagram is the overall molar metal ratio in the system.