Coupled Experimental Study and Thermodynamic Modeling of the Fe–Si–N System

Abstract

Some key experiments are carried out to determine the solubility of N in Fe–Si liquid solutions at various compositions, temperatures, and N2 pressures using the sampling method. The Fe–Si–N system is thermodynamically modeled using the CALculation of PHAse Diagrams (CALPHAD) approach for the first time based on critical evaluation of all available experimental data. In the present thermodynamic modeling, the liquid and solid solutions of the Fe–Si–N system are described using the modified quasichemical model and compound energy formalism, respectively. In particular, the Gibbs energies of liquid, FCC_A1, and BCC_A2 solutions are carefully determined to resolve the discrepancies among existing experimental data. The solubility product of β‐Si3N4(s) in Si steels and ferrosilicon alloys, activity coefficients, and interaction parameters of N in liquid and solid Fe–Si–N solutions are determined over a wide temperature range. As an application of the database, the N solubility in Si steels and phase constitution of nitrided ferrosilicon alloys in a wide composition, temperature, and N2 pressure ranges are predicted.