Experimental Investigation and Thermodynamic Calculation of the Phase Equilibria in the Bi-Cu-Zn Ternary System

The phase equilibria of the Bi-Cu-Zn ternary system has been firstly and comprehensively investigated by electron probe microanalyzer (EPMA) with equilibrated alloys. Two isothermal sections of the Bi-Cu-Zn ternary system at 500 and 650 °C were determined. Based on the experimental data of phase equilibria, the Bi-Cu-Zn ternary system was also thermodynamically optimized using the Calculation of Phase Diagrams (CALPHAD) method. The experimental result shows that Bi is almost insoluble in the Cu-Zn binary compounds and (Cu) phase. It is found that the critical temperatures of the miscibility gaps in the Bi-Cu and Bi-Zn binary systems gradually increase with the increasing of the third element Zn or Cu additions. Moreover, the composition range of the liquid miscibility gap gradually reduces with the temperature increasing.