Thermochemistry of Alloys: Recent Developments of Experimental Methods

The thermochemistry of alloys has interested generations of scientists and the subject was treated in classical textbooks long ago, e.g. by Hume-Rothery, by Wagner, and by Kubaschewski and Alcock. Nevertheless, the appearance of new materials and the desire to improve traditional materials and metallurgical processes has kept up demand for more information on the thermodynamics of these systems. The advent of computing power has created new opportunities to tie various aspects and properties together, such as phase diagrams and thermodynamic functions, that are in principle thermodynamically inter­ related but were too cumbersome to work out before. The computer has also been a powerful tool in buUding and testing models that help to explain the underlying causes of non-ideal behavior. At the same time, these calculations have pinpointed areas, where additional and more accurate data are needed. In the laboratory, new methods, improved materials, and sophistica­ ted instrumentation have gradually changed the way in which experiments are done. Within the time span of perhaps thirty years, the development went from jotting down individual readings of data points to strip chart recording to automatic digital data acquisition. Scholars and students active in the field of "Thermochemistry of Alloys" convened for a NATO Advanced Study Institute at Kiel in August 1987 to discuss these developments. This book collects most of the lectures and seminar papers given at the Institute.