Solubility of the elements in chromium

Abstract

l. An examination of the solubilities of elements in chromium reveals regularities that are analogous to those that characterize the solubility of elements in other metals, such as iron, nickel, and copper. 2. The formation or nonformation of solid solutions of elements in chromium is determined by the relative similarity or dissimilarity of the chemical properties of the elements, as revealed by Mendeleev's periodic law. 3. On the basis of these concepts it is possible to predict the ability or inability of the elements of the periodic system to form solid solutions with chromium. 4. It is possible either to confirm the conclusions derived from crystallographic laws for the formation of metallic solid solutions by reference to information available in the literature on the solubility of one or other element in chromium or, on the other hand, to predict the ability or inability of chromium to form solid solutions in systems not yet studied experimentally. 5. It may be asserted that chromium forms unlimited solid solutions with titanium (in its high-temperature β -modification), vanadium, molybdenum, and tungsten, but only limited solid solutions with beryllium, boron, zirconium, hafnium, uranium, rhenium, and all metals, of Group VIII (the iron and platinum group) with the exception of α-Fe, which has a structure isomorphous with that of chromium; with the last, chromium forms unlimited solid solutions. 6. Neither the and II (with the .exception of beryllium) —nor those which are most different from chromium with respect to atomic diameter can form solutions with chromium, either in the solid or in the liquid state. 7. Examination of the solubility of elements of the periodic system in chromium in binary systems permits us to extend these conclusions in order to predict the ability or inability for chromium to form more complex solid solutions in ternary, quaternary, and more complicated systems. 8. Data on the solubility of elements in chromium in binary, ternary, and more complicated systems permit us to determine the possibility of preparing chromium alloys of simple or complex composition, corresponding to regions of unlimited or limited solid solutions of chromium. 9. The regularities established with respect to the solubility of the elements in chromium permit us to examine the question of the formation ,of solid solutions based on chromium analogs—molybdbnum and tungsten. Certain regularities that have been demonstrated for chromium should be found valid also for the solubility of elements of the periodic system in molybdenum and tungsten.