Thermal conductivity of intermetallic compounds with ternary additions

Effects of tertiary additions on thermal conductivity of intermetallic compounds have been comprehensively surveyed as a function of composition and temperature. The measurements have been performed for 40 kinds of Ni3Al-X, 44 kinds of Ni3Ga-X, 68 kinds of NiAl-X and 20 kinds of CoAl-X in the temperature range between 300-1100 K. The major findings are summarized as follows. First, the addition of a third element decreases the thermal conductivity of intermetallic compound, and a contour map of thermal conductivity in ternary intermetallic phases is characterized by die direction of the contour ridge. Second, the direction of ridge in thermal conductivity contours in a ternary intermetallic phase agrees with that of solubility lobe of the phase in the corresponding ternary phase diagram. And third, the direction of ridge in thermal conductivity contours remains unchanged at higher temperatures for the Berthoride compounds.