Abstract
A Cahn Electrobalance has been used to determine directly and very accurately the carbon content of α-Fe, Fe-0.48 wt pct Mo and Fe-1.16 wt pct Mo specimens which were equilibrated with a series of methane-hydrogen gas mixtures. The equilibria investigated involved the ferrite phases of the alloys between 682 and 848‡C. The experimental results permitted direct calculation of the activities of carbon in the samples, relative to graphite as unity, and of other thermodynamic functions, without the necessity for any correction factors. The results have been compared with the experimental measurements of a number of other investigators. In ferrite, the partial molar enthalpy and entropy of solution of carbon are found to be 26,800 cal/mole, (112, 130 J/mole), and 30.59 cal/K-mole, (127.99 J/K-mole) respectively at temperatures below about 727‡C. Above this temperature, the values are 25,200 cal/mole and 29.13 cal/K-mole, respectively. The addition of molybdenum results in an increase in these properties below 727‡C and a decrease in the values above 753‡C, and the changes are found to be proportional to the molybdenum content. The solubility of carbon in α-Fe is found to be 0.0176 wt pct at the eutectoid temperature. Molybdenum increases the solubility relative to the Fe-C system at temperatures above the eutectoid and decreases it below the eutectoid.
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Lobo, J.A., Geiger, G.H. Thermodynamics and solubility of carbon in ferrite and ferritic Fe-Mo alloys. Metall Trans A 7, 1347–1357 (1976). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02658820
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02658820