Determine the Fe-C Equilibrium Diagram

[tututu87]

Any equations or methods to plot Fe-C equi. diag?
Thx!

 

[Mapes]

Hi tututu87, welcome to PF. Are you referring to the iron-carbon phase diagram? If so, there are two strategies: experimental (vary the temperature and the amount of C in Fe and determine the microstructure at each combination) and theoretical (simulate atomic interactions to identify the lowest-energy configuration).

Fortunately, the importance of steel has motivated decades of research (mostly experimental) in these areas, culminating in an Fe-C phase diagram that you can just look up in the literature.

A caveat: the most frequently used Fe-C phase diagram is a pseudo-equilibrium (or metastable) phase diagram, containing a phase (cementite) that will eventually decompose, albeit slowly. Will a little extra effort, you can find the true equilibrium diagram.

 

[tututu87]

thx!
Really appreciate it!