Experimental study of Bi–Cd–In phase diagram using conventional methods plus quenching and ‘solidification path’ techniques

Abstract

The liquidus projection of the Bi–Cd–In ternary alloy system has been redetermined, using the conventional methods of thermal analysis and differential scanning calorimetry, as well as quenching experiments and a ‘solidification path’ technique. In the latter method, specimens were solidified unidirectionally at a very low speed in order to maintain a coherent solid/liquid interface while approximating freezing with complete mixing in the liquid. This produced macroscopic segregation that clearly revealed the phases formed on a scale suitable for straightforward chemical analysis in a scanning electron microscope. Two quasibinary sections were found, one of which (BiIn₂–Cd) divides the system into two independent regions. A newly discovered ternary phase, designated Z, as well as several previously unreported ternary four phase reactions of the quasiperitectic type, were observed. The Bi–Z join was found to be a quasibinary peritectic section. A number of solid state reactions of the eutectoid type were also noted.