Experimental Investigation and Thermodynamic Calculation of the Phase Equilibria in the Mg-Gd-Mn Ternary System

Abstract

The phase equilibria of the Mg-Gd-Mn system at 773 K (500 °C) were investigated with sixteen alloys, by means of X-ray diffraction technique and electron probe microanalyses. Eight three-phase equilibria were accurately determined. No ternary compound was observed at 773 K (500 °C). The solubility of the third elements in the binary phases was measured. The isothermal section of the Mg-Gd-Mn system at 773 K (500 °C) was firstly established. It is worth mentioning that the three-phase field GdMg3-GdMg5-(αMn) was experimentally observed and is different from the three-phase field GdMg3-GdMg5-GdMn12 predicted using only the binary interaction parameters. Using the CALPHAD method, a thermodynamic modeling of the Mg-Gd-Mn system has been carried out in order to reasonably describe the experimental observations. The substitutional solution and sublattice models were used to describe the solution phases and intermediate phases. Comprehensive comparison between the calculated and measured isothermal sections shows that the experimental information is satisfactorily accounted for by the present thermodynamic modeling.