Thermodynamic Calculations of Composition of Carbide and Nitride Precipitates and Precipitation Order in Multi-Microalloyed Steels

By means of regular solution sublattice model,the mole fraction and composition of complex carbide and nitride precipitates in Nb-Ti-V microalloyed steels are calculated thermodynamically.Quantitative prediction of precipitation order of carbides and nitrides in complex precipitates is performed according to the calculated results at various austenitizing temperatures.The calculation can provide thermodynamic basis for quantitative prediction of complex precipitation behavior in NbTi-V-containing steels.

Order of sphalerite and galena precipitation: A case study from lead-zinc deposits in southwest China

Most of the lead and zinc deposits in Southwest China, are characterized by mineral zoning, which is especially true for the Huize and Zhaotong deposits. The mineral assemblage zoning is consistent for both horizontal and vertical zoning, from the base(center) of the ore body to the top(outermost), the mineral zones are as follows. I-1: coarse-grained pyrite and a little puce sphalerite;I-2: brown sphalerite, galena, and ferro-dolomite;I-3: galena, sandy beige and pale yellow sphalerite, and calcite;and I-4: fine-grained pyrite, dolomite, and calcite. Among them, sphalerite is the landmark mineral of different zoning. From I-1 to I-3, the color of sphalerite changes from dark to light, its crystalline size changes from coarse to fine, and its structure changes from disseminated to veinlet. This mineral zoning is seen not only on a microscopic scale, but is also clear on a mesoscopic and macroscopic scale. It is caused by the order of the sphalerite and galena precipitation. We studied the metallic minerals and fluid inclusions using a thermodynamic phase diagram method, such as lgfO2–lgfS2, pH–lgfO2, pH–lg[Pb^2+] and pH–lg[HS^-], discussed the constraints on the order of the sphalerite and galena precipitation in the migration and precipitation process of lead and zinc under different pH values, oxygen fugacity, sulfur fugacity, and ionic activity. We also explain the formation mechanism and propose that the main controlling factor of the order of the sphalerite and galena precipitation is sulfur fugacity.

Quantitative determination of anti-structured defects applied to alloys of a wide chemical range

Anti-structured defects bridge atom migration among heterogeneous sublattices facilitating diffusion but could also result in the collapse of ordered structure.Component distribution Ni（75）AlxV（25-x） alloys are investigated using a microscopic phase field model to illuminate relations between anti-structured defects and composition,precipitate order,precipitate type,and phase stability.The Ni（75）AlxV（25-x） alloys undergo single Ni3V（stage Ⅰ）,dual Ni3Al and Ni3V（stage Ⅱ with Ni3V prior;and stage Ⅲ with Ni3Al prior）,and single Ni3Al（stage Ⅳ） with enhanced aluminum level.For Ni3V phase,anti-structured defects（V（Ni1）,Niy,except V（Ni2）） and substitution defects（Al（Ni1）,Al（Ni2）,Alv） exhibit a positive correlation to aluminum in stage I,the positive trend becomes to negative correlation or smooth during stage Ⅱ.For Ni3 Al phase,anti-structured defects（Al（Ni）,Ni（Al）） and substitution defects（V（Ni）,V（Al）） have a positive correlation to aluminum in stage Ⅱ,but Ni（Al） goes down since stage Ⅲ and lasts to stage Ⅳ.V（Ni） and V（Al） fluctuate when Ni3Al precipitates prior,but go down drastically in stageⅣ.Precipitate type conversion of single Ni3V/dual（Ni3V＋Ni3Al） affects Ni3V defects,while dual（Ni3V＋Ni3Al）/single Ni3 Al has little effect on Ni3Al defects.Precipitate order swap occurred in the dual phase region affects on Ni3Al defects but not on Ni3V.